Sir Charles Hotham, 4th Baronet ( 1663 – 8 January 1723), of Scorborough and later of Beverley and South Dalton, was a British Army officer and Whig politician who sat in the

English House of Commons The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England (which incorporated Wales) from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of ...

and

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

from 1695 to 1723.

Biography

Hotham was born in Bermuda, the only son of

Charles Hotham Captain Sir Charles Hotham (14 January 180631 December 1855)B. A. Knox,Hotham, Sir Charles (1806–1855), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 4, MUP, 1972, pp 429-430. was Lieutenant-Governor and, later, Governor of Victoria, A ...

(1615 – ' 1672), and Elizabeth (died 1685), daughter of Stephen Thompson of

Humbleton Humbleton is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, in an area known as Holderness. It is situated approximately north-east of Kingston upon Hull, Hull city centre. Overview The civil ...

, Yorkshire. His father was a prominent Nonconformist who lost his living as rector of

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

after the Restoration and emigrated with his wife to Bermuda to take up a ministry. Minister Hotham lived there for the rest of his life. Shortly before his father's death, Hotham was sent to London where he lived under the care of his cousin Richard Thompson. Hotham was educated at

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school, day school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, North West England. It comprise ...

before entering

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

in 1681, where he was awarded BA in 1685, MA in 1688 and elected a fellow from 1685 to 1692. He was also ordained as a deacon. He succeeded his cousin

Sir John Hotham, 3rd Baronet Sir John Hotham, 3rd Baronet (2 August 165525 August 1691) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1689 to 1690. Hotham was the son of Sir John Hotham, 2nd Baronet and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sapcote Beaumont, 2nd ...

in 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 ...

on 25 August 1691, on condition that he married Sir John's niece, Bridget, daughter of William Gee. Sir Charles and Bridget lived at Scorborough House, the Hotham family seat near Beverley, Yorkshire, which later burned down in 1705. Hotham inherited a considerable debt along with the baronetcy which was not paid off until 1697. In 1705 his house was destroyed in a fire and the family moved to South Dalton. He became a Regimental Colonel in 1705 of a regiment he raised in Yorkshire, with which he went to Spain in 1706 as part of the British expeditionary force initially commanded by

Earl Rivers Earl Rivers was an England, English title, which has been created three times in the Peerage of England. It was held in succession by the families of Woodville (or Wydeville), Darcy and Savage. History The first creation was made for Richard Wo ...

. Suffering losses from the defence of several towns, the regiment was disbanded in 1708. Promoted to Brigadier-General in 1710, Hotham was put on half-pay in 1713. In 1715 he was made colonel of a regiment which would later be the 44th Foot. He was Colonel of The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Dragoons from 1717 until they were disbanded in 1718. He was then appointed Colonel of the 36th Foot in 1719, from which he transferred as Colonel to the 8th Foot in 1720. He lastly transferred to the

Royal Dragoons The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons) was a heavy cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1661 as the Tangier Horse. It served for three centuries and was in action during the First and the Second World Wars. It was amalgam ...

in 1721, serving until his death. Hotham was the Member of Parliament for

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

from 1695 to 1701 and for

Beverley Beverley is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located north-west of Hull city centre. At the 2021 census the built-up area of the town had a population of 30,930, and the smaller civil parish had ...

from 1702 until his death in 1723. Between 1716 and 1721 he built a neo-Palladian house known as Hotham House in Eastgate, Beverley, designed by the pioneering Scottish architect

Colen Campbell Colen Campbell (15 June 1676 – 13 September 1729) was a pioneering Scottish architect and architectural writer who played an important part in the development of the Georgian style. For most of his career, he resided in Italy and England. As ...

. It remained empty after his death and was demolished c.1766. Hotham was buried at South Dalton.

Family

Hotham had married twice: firstly Bridget, daughter of William Gee, with whom he had 3 sons and 7 daughters and secondly Lady Mildred, the daughter of James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, and the widow of Sir Uvedale Corbet, 3rd Baronet, of Longnor, Shropshire; they had one son who died before his father. Hotham was succeeded by

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

a son from his first marriage.

Notes

References

* * *
Papers of the Hotham Family of Scorborough and South Dalton
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hotham, Sir Charles 1723 deaths People from Beverley People educated at Sedbergh School Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Baronets in the Baronetage of England British Army brigadiers English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701–1702

Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 Year of birth uncertain 44th Regiment of Foot officers 36th Regiment of Foot officers King's Regiment (Liverpool) officers 1st The Royal Dragoons officers