John Hampden (c. 1696 – 4 February 1754), of Great Hampden, Buckinghamshire, was an English 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 1734 to 1754. Hampden was the second son of

John Hampden John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English politician from Oxfordshire, who was killed fighting for Roundhead, Parliament in the First English Civil War. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and a cousin of Oliver Cromwell, he was one of ...

, MP, of Great Hampden, and his second wife Anne Cornwallis, second daughter of Hon. Frederick Cornwallis. His father committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

in 1696, putting a "sad cloud over the family". He was page of honour of the royal stables in 1712 and became captain in Colonel Sir Robert Rich's regiment of Dragoons in about 1715. He succeeded his brother Richard Hampden at Great Hampden in 1728. At the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of Great Britain, House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scot ...

Hampden was returned as a Whig Member of Parliament for

Wendover Wendover is a town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road along t ...

. In 1735 he was granted a lucrative place as commissary general for Gibraltar which he held until 1747. He was returned again as MP for Wendover in

1741 Events January–March * January 13 ** Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. ** Conventicle Act of 1741 is introduced in Denmark-Norway. *February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain ...

and

1747 Events January–March * January 31 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital. * February 11 – King George's War: A combined French and Indian force, commanded by Captain Nicolas Antoine II ...

. He was a founding governor of London's

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital (formally the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home in London, England, founded in 1739 by the philanthropy, philanthropic Captain (nautical), sea captain ...

, a charity dedicated to the salvation of the capital's abandoned children. He married Isabella Ellys, but left no children. Hampden was the last male-line descendant of

, and left his estates on his death to his cousin Hon. Robert Trevor, who assumed the Hampden surname.

References

1690s births 1754 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub