Sir Charles Saxton, 2nd Baronet (2 October 1773 – 24 January 1838) was a British barrister, senior

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

in the Dublin Castle administration in Ireland, and

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician.

Biography

Saxton was the eldest surviving son of Sir Charles Saxton, 1st Baronet and Mary Bush. 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 ...

and University College, Oxford, before entering

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in 1791. He was called to the English bar in 1800, after which he worked as a barrister practising on the

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

circuit and recorder of his native Abingdon-on-Thames. Between 1803 and 1808 he served as a volunteer in the London and Westminster Light Horse. Through his friendship with Charles Williams-Wynn, Saxton was able to secure a role in the Irish civil service commencing in August 1806. He returned briefly to England two months later to contest the

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

constituency on the interest of the

Earl of Radnor Earl of Radnor, of the County of Radnor, is a title which has been created twice. It was first created in the Peerage of England in 1679 for John Robartes, 2nd Baron Robartes, a notable political figure of the reign of Charles II. The earldo ...

, in which he was unsuccessful. Saxton retained his public office under the administration of the Duke of Portland, despite being a Grenvillite. In 1808, Saxton was appointed Under-Secretary for Ireland – the most senior civil servant in the Irish administration – by the

Duke of Richmond Duke of Richmond is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created four times in British history. It has been held by members of the royal Tudor and Stuart families. The current dukedom of Richmond was created in 1675 for Charles ...

. On 11 November he succeeded to his father's baronetcy. In May 1812 Saxton resigned his Irish office and in October that year he was elected as the Tory Member of Parliament for the Irish seat of Cashel. He was also returned for Malmesbury, but decided to sit for Cashel, making government the gift of the Malmesbury seat. In parliament he sat on the Irish finance committee and on 7 April 1813 was added to the corn trade committee, but otherwise he made little impact on proceedings. From 1815 to 1816 he was a commissioner of inquiry into the Irish courts of justice. After a period in Holland, in the spring of 1818 he returned to parliament and on 27 April he delivered his maiden speech in defence of an Abingdon petition against allegations of abuse of corporation charities, but was obliged to withdraw it. He did not obtain a seat in the election of June that year. In 1824 he was appointed

High Sheriff of Berkshire The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff#United King ...

. Saxton died unmarried on 24 January 1838, at which point his title became extinct. His library was sold at auction by Fletcher & Wheatley in London on 5 July 1838 and following day; a copy of the catalogue is in Cambridge University Library (shelfmark Munby.c.155(9)).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saxton, Charles, 2nd Baronet 1773 births 1838 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain British barristers High sheriffs of Berkshire Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Tipperary constituencies (1801–1922) People educated at Eton College Tory members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1812–1818 Under-Secretaries for Ireland