Harry Powlett, 4th Duke of Bolton, PC (24 July 1691 – 9 October 1759), known until 1754 as Lord Harry Powlett, was a British nobleman and Whig politician. He 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 1715 to 1754, when he took his seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Early life

Born the second son of Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton and Frances Ramsden, Powlett started his career in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. He served as an ADC to the Earl of Galway in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in 1710, during the closing stages of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

Political career

Powlett was elected at the 1715 general election as a Member of Parliament (MP) for St Ives in Cornwall. He held the seat until the 1722 general election, when he was returned as MP for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. He held that seat until he succeeded to the peerage in 1754, with one interruption. At the 1734 general election he was returned both for Hampshire and for Yarmouth. A

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...

was lodged against the Hampshire result, and he sat for Yarmouth until 1737, when the petition against the Hampshire result was withdrawn, then chose to represent Hampshire rather than Yarmouth for the remainder of the Parliament. He served as a

Gentleman of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the Royal Household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Households of the United Kingdo ...

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales (Frederick Louis, German: ''Friedrich Ludwig''; 31 January 1707 – 31 March 1751) was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen C ...

from 1729 to 1751. Powlett joined the

Board of Admiralty The Board of Admiralty (1628–1964) was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. As that position was not always occupied, the purpose was to enable management of the day-to-day operational requi ...

in the Whig government in June 1733 and was advanced to Senior Naval Lord in March 1738Rodger, p. 51-52 but had to stand down when the Government fell from power in March 1742. He went on to serve as Lieutenant of the Tower of London from 1742 to 1754 and was then sworn a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

in January 1755. He succeeded his elder brother

Charles Powlett, 3rd Duke of Bolton Charles Powlett (sometimes spelled Paulet), 3rd Duke of Bolton (3 September 168526 August 1754), styled Earl of Wiltshire from 1685 until 1699, and Marquess of Winchester from 1699 until 1722, was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat ...

to the dukedom in 1754. He died on 9 October 1759 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles.

Family

Powlett married Catherine Parry (d. 25 April 1744), by whom he had four children: *

Charles Powlett, 5th Duke of Bolton Lieutenant-general Charles Powlett, 5th Duke of Bolton ( 1718 – 5 July 1765), styled Marquess of Winchester from 1754 to 1759, was a British soldier, nobleman and Whig politician. Early life He was the eldest son of Harry Powlett, 4th Duke ...

(d. 1765) * Harry Powlett, 6th Duke of Bolton (1720–1794) *Lady Henrietta Powlett (d. 22 December 1753), married on 12 July 1741 Robert Colebrooke of Chilham Castle (d. 1784), no issue *Lady Catherine Powlett (d. 1775), married firstly William Ashe, secondly in 1734 Adam Drummond of Megginch (d. 1786), without issue by either. The Duke of Bolton's properties included Hackwood Park in Hampshire, Bolton Hall, North Yorkshire, Edington in Wiltshire and Hooke Court in Dorset.

References

Sources

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