John Olmius, 1st Baron Waltham (18 July 1711 – 5 October 1762), of New Hall, Boreham, Essex, was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat in the

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between 1737 and 1762.

Background

Olmius was the only son of John Olmius, of Braintree,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, Deputy Governor of the

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, and his wife Elizabeth Clarke, daughter and heiress of Thomas Clarke, a

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merchant. He was the grandson of a wealthy Dutch merchant who had settled in

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. He acquired

New Hall New Hall may refer to: * New Hall, Fazakerley, a historic complex that was originally a model village, in Liverpool, England * New Hall, Woodford, a 17th-century cottage in Woodford, Greater Manchester, England * New Hall moated site, a scheduled ...

near

Boreham Boreham is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Essex, England. The parish is in the City of Chelmsford and Chelmsford (UK Parliament constituency), Chelmsford Parliament constituency. The village is approximately northeast ...

, in 1737.

Political career

Olmius was returned to Parliament as one of four representatives for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis at a by-election on 10 March 1737. He was returned as MP for

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

instead at the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

but was unseated on petition on 26 February 1742. He was a supporter of Walpole and later

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and Pelham. From 1746 to 1747 he was High Sheriff of Essex. Olmius remained out of Parliament for twelve years, but at the

1754 British general election The 1754 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 11th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Owing to the exten ...

he was once again returned for Colchester.''The History of Parliament'': OLMIUS, John (1711-62), of New Hall, Boreham, Essex. (Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964)
/ref> At the 1761 British general election, he was returned for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis for a second time. Olmius had applied to

Lord Bute John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Mini ...

for an English peerage in the 1761 coronation honours but was overlooked. However, in June 1762, only four months before his death, he was raised to the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

as Baron Waltham, of Philipstown in the King's County.

Family

Lord Waltham married Anne Billers, daughter and heiress of Sir William Billers, of Thorley, Hertfordshire,

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, in 1741. They had one son and a daughter. He died in October 1762, aged 51, and was succeeded in the barony by his only son, Drigue, on whose death in 1787 the title became extinct. Waltham's daughter and eventual heiress the Honourable Elizabeth Olmius married John Luttrell, later 3rd Earl of Carhampton, who later assumed the additional surname of Olmius in respect of his father-in-law.thepeerage.com John Olmius, 1st Baron Waltham
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waltham, John Olmius, 1st Baron 1711 births 1762 deaths Barons in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George III High sheriffs of Essex British people of Dutch descent Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 People from Boreham