Sir Baldwin Leighton, 7th Baronet (14 May 1805 – 26 February 1871) was an English landowner and 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 1859 to 1865. Leighton was the son of

Sir Baldwin Leighton, 6th Baronet General Sir Baldwin Leighton, 6th Baronet (15 January 1747 – 13 November 1828) was a senior English officer in the British Army. Leighton was the son of Baldwin Leighton, the 2nd son of Sir Edward Leighton, 2nd Baronet. He joined the army i ...

and his second wife Anne Stanley of

Alderley, Cheshire Alderley was one of the eight ancient parishes of the Macclesfield Hundred of Cheshire, England. It included the following townships: * Over Alderley * Nether Alderley * Great Warford Under the Poor Law Amendment Act 1886, these townships became ...

. His father was an army general and governor of

Carrickfergus Castle Carrickfergus Castle (from the Irish ''Carraig Ḟergus'' or "cairn of Fergus", the name "Fergus" meaning "strong man") is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of B ...

, and had inherited the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, with estates centred at

Loton Park Loton Park is a country house near Alberbury, Shrewsbury in Shropshire, on the upper reaches of the River Severn. It is a Grade II* listed building. It has been the seat of the Leighton baronets, Leighton family since 1391. It stands in of ...

, Shropshire, from his cousin in 1819. Leighton inherited the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1828 and was

High Sheriff of Shropshire This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of Shropshire The high sheriff, sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the high sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of t ...

in 1835. He served in the local

yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units and sub-units in the British Army Reserve which are descended from volunteer cavalry regiments that now serve in a variety of different roles. History Origins In the 1790s, following the ...

, initially as cornet in 1824 and captain in 1828 of the then Shrewsbury Yeomanry Cavalry, continuing to serve after they merged into the South Salopian Yeomanry Cavalry in the latter year. In the 1859 general election, Leighton was elected Member of Parliament for

South Shropshire South Shropshire was a local government district in Shropshire, England, from 1974 to 2009. Its council was based in the town of Ludlow; the other towns in the district were Church Stretton, Cleobury Mortimer, Clun, Bishop's Castle and Crave ...

. He held the seat until the 1865 general election. Leighton married Mary Parker of Sweeney Hall near

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...

, Shropshire, in 1832. She inherited the Sweeney estate on the death of her brother Rev. John Parker an amateur artist and prolific painter. She was also a very competent amateur artist and her works include a portrait of her husband in Egyptian attire. Their sons Baldwyn Leighton and

Stanley Leighton Stanley Leighton (1837 – 4 May 1901) was an English barrister, landowner, artist and Conservative politician. He is also known as an antiquarian and author. Life Leighton was the younger son of Sir Baldwin Leighton, 7th Baronet, of Loto ...

both represented Shropshire seats in parliament. Their daughter Charlotte married General William Feilding.the Peerage.com
/ref> Leighton died at Norton Hall, near

Daventry Daventry ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, Daventry had a populati ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

on 26 January 1871 aged 65, and was buried in Loton Park's parish churchyard of St Michael,

Alberbury Alberbury is a village in Shropshire, England, west of Shrewsbury on the B4393 road which travels from Ford to Lake Vyrnwy. It is on to the England-Wales border, marked by Prince's Oak. The River Severn runs just north of the village, and mo ...

Gallery

File:Loton Park country house - geograph.org.uk - 462532.jpg, Loton Park, Shropshire File:Frances C Leighton & Isabell Leighton 4a (1256334).jpg, Frances Christina Leighton & Isabella Leighton, children of Sir Baldwyn Leighton. 1835 File:Frances Christina Leighton 4 (1256334).jpg, Frances Christina Leighton daughter of Sir Baldwyn Leighton. File:Frances Christina Leighton 5 (1256334).jpg, Frances Christina Leighton

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leighton, Baldwin 1805 births 1871 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1859–1865 Baronets in the Baronetage of England High sheriffs of Shropshire Shropshire Yeomanry officers English landowners 19th-century English businesspeople