Francis Willoughby, 2nd Baron Middleton (4 October 1692 – 31 July 1758), was a British politician who sat in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
from 1713 to 1727. He succeeded to a
baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...
y in the
Peerage of Great Britain
The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself repla ...
.

He was born the eldest son of
Thomas Willoughby, 1st Baron Middleton, and Elizabeth, the daughter and coheiress of Sir Richard Rothwell, 1st Bt. He was the brother of
Hon. Thomas Willoughby, MP.
He was educated at
Eton and at
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...
, graduating
MA in 1712.
He was returned as
Member of Parliament for
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
at the general elections of
1713
Events
January–March
* January 17 – Tuscarora War: Colonel James Moore leads the Carolina militia out of Albemarle County, North Carolina, in a second offensive against the Tuscarora. Heavy snows force the troops to take ...
and
1715
Events
For dates within Great Britain and the British Empire, as well as in the Russian Empire, the "old style" Julian calendar was used in 1715, and can be converted to the "new style" Gregorian calendar (adopted in the British Empire in ...
. At the
1722 general election he was returned as MP for
Tamworth until 1727.
He succeeded to the barony on his father's death in 1729, and inherited estates at
Wollaton Hall
Wollaton Hall is an Elizabethan country house of the 1580s standing on a small but prominent hill in Wollaton Park, Nottingham, England. The house is now Nottingham Natural History Museum, with Nottingham Industrial Museum in the outbuilding ...
,
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
(where he lived), and at
Middleton Hall,
Middleton,
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
.
He was
High Steward of the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield from 1729.
He married Mary Edwards in 1723 by whom he had two sons, who succeeded in turn to the barony, and a daughter:
*
Francis Willoughby, 3rd Baron Middleton (1726–1774)
*
Thomas Willoughby, 4th Baron Middleton (1728–1781)
*daughter, name unknown
References
1692 births
1758 deaths
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge
Willoughby, Francis
British MPs 1713–1715
British MPs 1715–1722
British MPs 1722–1727
Francis 2
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