Henry Gough-Calthorpe, 1st Baron Calthorpe (1 January 1749 – 16 March 1798), known until 1796 as Sir Henry Gough, 2nd Baronet, 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 1774 to 1796 when he was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

Early life

Gough was the son of Barbara Calthorpe, the only daughter of Reynolds Calthorpe of

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, ...

and second wife of Sir Henry Gough, 1st Baronet.''A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire'' (Henry Colburn, 1839), p. 163. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

from 1762 to 1767, followed by

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

in 1767 and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

from 1768 to 1769. On 8 June 1774 he succeeded to his father's

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and estates.

Political career

In the 1774 general election, Gough was returned as the Member of Parliament for Bramber, a

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or Electoral district, constituency in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, or the United Kin ...

controlled by his family. He was returned again in

1780 Events January–March * January 16 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Cape St. Vincent: British Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a Spanish fleet. * February 19 – The legislature of New York votes to all ...

and 1784. He took the additional surname of Calthorpe by royal licence in 1788 on succeeding to the estates of his maternal uncle, Sir Henry Calthorpe. Previously an independent member, from 1788 he was a supporter of

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...

. He was returned again for Bramber in 1790. In 1791 he opposed the repeal of the Test Act in Scotland and in March 1796 he voted against abolition of the slave trade. On 16 June 1796, he was created Baron Calthorpe, of Calthorpe in the County of Norfolk, 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 ...

, and gave up his seat in the House of Commons. He had first applied for a peerage in 1789.

Family

On 1 May 1783, Gough-Calthorpe married Frances Carpenter, the second daughter and co-heiress of General Benjamin Carpenter. They had eight children: *Henry Gough-Calthorpe (24 January 1784 – 4 November 1790, predeceasing his father) *Hon. Charles Gough-Calthorpe, later 2nd Baron Calthorpe (1786–1807) *Hon. George Gough-Calthorpe, later 3rd Baron Calthorpe (1787–1851) *Hon. Frederick Gough-Calthorpe later Frederick Gough, 4th Baron Calthorpe (1790–1868) *Hon. John Gough-Calthorpe (5 May 1793 – 10 June 1816) *Hon. Arthur Gough-Calthorpe (14 November 1796 – 5 March 1836) *Hon. Frances Elizabeth Gough-Calthorpe (c. 1785 – 2 September 1868) *Hon. Harriet Gough-Calthorpe (died 12 February 1813) The first baron was succeeded in the baronetcy, his eldest son having predeceased him, by his next three sons in turn. The widowed Lady Calthorpe took up residence in

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. She died on 1 May 1827, while visiting

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calthorpe, Henry Gough-Calthorpe, 1st Baron 1749 births 1798 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 1 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 Gough-Calthorpe family Peers of Great Britain created by George III People educated at Eton College