John Mayor (1735-1817) was an English brewer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1782. He was the first superintendent of

HM Stationery Office The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives (United K ...

from 1786. Mayor was the son of John Mayor, a brass founder, of Little Moorfields, London. He became a brewer in London and owned extensive property at Langtons House near Hornchurch Essex. He also acquired Lacy Court at Abingdon and became involved politically there. In February 1774 he became

High Sheriff of Berkshire The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff is therefore much older ...

and in the

1774 British general election The 1774 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 14th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Lord North's government ...

, he was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Abingdon. His opponent petitioned against Mayor being returned while serving as sheriff. The election was declared void in March 1775 but having completed his term as Sheriff, Mayor was re-elected on 11 March. He was re-elected in the 1780 election but for unknown reasons he vacated his seat in December 1782. Mayor's only parliamentary speeches were in opposing a tax on malt. He had however rendered assistance to the Inland Revenue, particularly regarding the tax on paper. He was rewarded with a pension of £1,000. Mayor was asked to submit to the Treasury a plan for controlling the supply of government stationery and in 1786 this resulted in the establishment of

of which he became the first superintendent. Mayor remained in office until 1799 and died on 23 September 1817.

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Lacy Court, Abingdon
Painted by

J M W Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbule ...

in 1789 at the time of Mayor's ownership {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayor, John 1735 births 1817 deaths British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies High Sheriffs of Berkshire People from Abingdon-on-Thames