Sir Edward Littleton, 4th Baronet
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Sir Edward Littleton of
Pillaton Hall Pillaton Hall was an historic house located in Pillaton, Staffordshire, near Penkridge, England. For more than two centuries it was the seat of the Littleton family, a family of local landowners and politicians. The 15th century gatehouse is th ...
, 4th Baronet, (c. 1727–1812) was a long-lived
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
landowner and MP from the extended Littleton/Lyttelton family, who represented
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
in the
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and the
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for a total of 28 years. The last of the Littleton Baronets of Pillaton Hall, he transferred the family seat from eponymous Pillaton to Teddesley Hall, and died childless, leaving the estates to his great-nephew, Edward Walhouse, who became
Edward Littleton, 1st Baron Hatherton Edward John Littleton, 1st Baron Hatherton Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (18 March 17914 May 1863), was a British politician from the extended Lyttelton family, Littleton/Lyttelton family, of ...
.


Background and early life

Edward Littleton, the 4th Baronet, was the son of Fisher Littleton' and Frances Whitehall. Edward's year of birth is generally given as 1727, although occasionally as 1725. The later date seems more likely, as he was still considered a
minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...
as late as 1749. His mother, Frances, was the daughter and coheir of James Whitehall of
Pipe Ridware Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ...
, a village close to
Rugeley Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District, in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is north of Lichfield, southeast of Stafford, northeast of ...
, Staffordshire. His father had not been a baronet or head of the family, and Edward's line of succession went back to Sir Edward Littleton, 2nd Baronet. The 3rd and 4th Baronets were cousins and both grandsons of the 2nd Baronet, who died in 1709. He had married twice and had at least 19 children. However, his eldest son, by his first marriage to Mary Wrottesley, naturally named Edward, predeceased him in 1706. The 3rd baronet was therefore a grandson, a son of the deceased Edward. The 3rd baronet died childless in 1742. This necessitated passing the title and estates to another line of descent from the second baronet. Fisher Littleton, his third son by his second wife, Joyce Littleton, was indubitably legitimate (unlike their earlier children), and had married relatively late in life. Fisher was actually a few years younger than his nephew, the Baronet. He had a young son, conveniently called Edward, who might succeed to the Littleton estates and titles. Edward's cousin, the 3rd Baronet, sent him to nearby Brewood School, a clear sign that he regarded him as a likely heir. The school was at that time under the headship of the celebrated
William Budworth William Budworth (1699 – September 1745) was a schoolmaster at Brewood in Staffordshire, England. He taught several notable pupils, but he is most remembered for not employing Samuel Johnson as an assistant at Brewood Grammar School. Lif ...
, who benefited considerably from the Baronet's generosity. In 1740 Fisher Littleton died and the young Edward, while still a schoolboy, inherited his father's land. In January 1742 he also inherited the much larger estates, as well as the titles, of his cousin, the 3rd Baronet. Still a minor, he was admitted to
Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...
in 1744.


Landowner

It was not until 1749 that Littleton became independent enough to steer a policy of his own. In that year he completed his family's dominance of the
Penkridge Penkridge ( ) is a village and civil parish in South Staffordshire, South Staffordshire District in Staffordshire, England. It is to the south of Stafford, north of Wolverhampton, west of Cannock, east of Telford and south-east of Newport, Shro ...
area by buying the manor of Penkridge itself. This had been divided into two by
Henry de Loundres Henry de Loundres (died 1228 in Ireland, 1228) was an Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman churchman who was Archbishop of Dublin (Roman Catholic), Archbishop of Dublin from 1213 in Ireland, 1213 to 1228. He was an influential figure in the reign of John ...
,
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and dean of Penkridge in the 13th century. The smaller part, conferred on the Collegiate Church of St. Michael, Penkridge, and known as the
deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...
manor, had been leased to the Littletons even before the Reformation. The church lost it in the Dissolution of
Chantries A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantry chapel, a bu ...
in 1547, and the Littletons were able to purchase it in the 1580s. The larger part of the manor, conferred on
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landowners, had belonged to heads of the Greville family, later Barons Brooke, since the early 16th century. However, the Grevilles had larger interests in Warwickshire, not least Warwick Castle itself. Francis Greville, who had recently been made
Earl Brooke Earl of Warwick is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which has been created four times in English history. The name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick. Overview The first creation came in 1088, and the title was held b ...
and was soon to become
Earl of Warwick Earl of Warwick is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which has been created four times in English history. The name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick. Overview The first creation came in 1088, and the title was held b ...
, decided to sell Penkridge to Littleton, giving the family not only a larger but a more compact and manageable block of estates. On 10 May 1752 Littleton married Frances Horton, daughter of Christopher Horton of Catton Hall, near
Walton-on-Trent Walton-on-Trent is a village within the civil parish of Walton-upon-Trent, in the National Forest, England, National Forest in the South Derbyshire district in Derbyshire, England. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 Census w ...
, Derbyshire. The Hortons had just had their medieval manor house demolished to make way for a large
baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
building more in keeping with the times.
Pillaton Hall Pillaton Hall was an historic house located in Pillaton, Staffordshire, near Penkridge, England. For more than two centuries it was the seat of the Littleton family, a family of local landowners and politicians. The 15th century gatehouse is th ...
was a 16th-century structure, originally conceived as simply a manor house for the small Littleton estate of Pillaton and Otherton. Littleton soon began work on a new and more impressive seat for the family. It was said that two large hoards of coins were discovered in 1742 and 1749 behind panels at Pillaton Hall, which raised the sum of £15,000 on sale, and thus defrayed the costs of the new hall. Teddesley Hall was built north-west of Penkridge, on Teddesley Hay. The Hay had been acquired about two centuries earlier, when the
Tudor dynasty The House of Tudor ( ) was an English and Welsh dynasty that held the throne of England from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd, a Welsh noble family, and Catherine of Valois. The Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of Eng ...
disposed of the old
royal forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...
lands. It was
heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...
and
bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...
land, difficult to cultivate but potentially attractive. There the Littletons had Teddesley Lodge, a moated house that had accommodated junior members of the family, including an earlier Fisher Littleton, who had helped recover the family property after the
English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
. Teddesley Hall was constructed on a new site, about 200 metres from the Lodge. It was large but austere, a three-storied, square, brick structure, with seven windows on the upper storeys on all four faces. The main building was linked by curved screen walls to flanking ranges, one housing stables, the other kitchens, stores and servants' rooms. It was to remain the family seat until the 20th century, when it was demolished. Littleton now lived the life of a country gentleman, participating in county life to the full. He actively improved Teddesley Park, the area around his new home, creating gardens and hundreds of acres of grazing land beyond them. He did not seek to cultivate the land but developed his own strain of cattle to suit the conditions. He and his tenants also created an improved breed of sheep by crossing the hornless sheep of
Cannock Chase Cannock Chase, often referred to locally as The Chase, is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase National Landscape, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and muc ...
with Ross rams. In 1762-3 he was
High Sheriff of Staffordshire This is a list of the sheriffs and high sheriffs of Staffordshire. The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. The sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities as ...
, an onerous and expensive post that was not universally welcomed but reflected his standing. In 1781 his wife Frances died. They had no children and he never remarried.


Political career

Littleton was returned unopposed, along with Sir John Wrottesley, 8th Baronet, as MP for
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
on 8 April 1784. The seat was dominated at this time by the Leveson-Gower family of
Trentham Hall Trentham Estate in the village of Trentham, Staffordshire, England, is a visitor attraction on the southern fringe of the city of Stoke-on-Trent. History The estate was first recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. At the time it was a royal ...
. They were traditionally Whigs but
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, KG PC (4 August 172126 October 1803), known as Viscount Trentham from 1746 to 1754 and as The Earl Gower from 1754 to 1786, was a British politician from the Leveson-Gower family. Sitting in ...
had accepted posts in
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 ...
ministries. By general agreement among the county
landed gentry The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...
, one candidate should represent the Leveson Gower interest: this was Wrottesley, who had served in the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
, but returned home to oppose the running of it – essentially Gower's own position. The second seat was for a country member: a gentleman acceptable to the local landowning interest but essentially uncommitted to the party. This was Littleton. In fact, the
Earl of Uxbridge Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...
had designs on the seat for his son, Lord Paget, who was still only 16 years old. By proposing Littleton, now in his late 50s, he hoped the seat might become vacant at the next election. In reality, Littleton survived for a further 28 years, holding his seat until his death.The History of Parliament: Members 1790–1820 – Littleton, Sir Edward, 4th Bt. (Author: R. G. Thorne)
/ref> Wrottesley, however, died in 1787 and was replaced by Lord Gower, the Marquess's son. Gower was to remain an MP for Staffordshire until 1799, when his half-brother Lord Granville Leveson-Gower took over, holding the seat until 1815. Thus Littleton's colleagues at Westminster were much grander than himself for most of his political career, and in his last years he was largely overawed by them. Because of the tacit agreement about the distribution of seats, all Littleton's elections were uncontested. File:1stMarquessOfStafford.jpg , Granville Leveson-Gower, The Earl Gower (1721–1803) in 1784, later 1st Marquess of Stafford. Head of a traditionally Whig family based at
Trentham Hall Trentham Estate in the village of Trentham, Staffordshire, England, is a visitor attraction on the southern fringe of the city of Stoke-on-Trent. History The estate was first recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. At the time it was a royal ...
, he joined the Tory ministry of
Frederick North, Lord North Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He ...
in the 1770s. His acquiescence was essential for
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
MPs. He put in his nephew, Wrottesley, alongside Littleton. File:Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey by William Salter.jpg, Henry William Paget, son of the
Earl of Uxbridge Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...
. The Pagets were close neighbours of Littleton, with their Staffordshire seat at Beaudesert. Uxbridge approved Littleton's candidature, intending to keep the seat warm for Lord Paget. Littleton's longevity frustrated their plan, and Paget went on to win great fame as a soldier. File:George Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland by Thomas Phillips.jpg, Lord Gower (1758–1833), Littleton's colleague as Staffordshire MP 1787–1799, pictured in later life as Duke of Sutherland. As the son of the 1st Marquess of Stafford, he was well-placed to interpret and police the family's interests. Later his role in the
Highland Clearances The Highland Clearances ( , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860. The first phase resulted from Scottish Agricultural R ...
was to be controversial. File:Thomas Lawrence, Portrait of Lord Granville Leveson-Gower, later 1st Earl Granville (c. 1804–1809).jpg, Lord Granville Leveson-Gower (1773–1846), Lord Gower's half-brother and Littleton's colleague as Staffordshire MP from 1799. He had considerably more liberal views and helped tip the family into opposition to
William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...
. Later he was to become a prominent Whig reformer.
Littleton was never a very active MP. He spoke only once 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 ...
, shortly after he was first elected, against the brick tax. His party loyalties were vague. Often considered a Whig, he nevertheless voted most often with the Tory ministries that dominated the age, although this was not uncommon in times of war. With the collapse of the
Rockingham Whigs The Rockingham Whigs (or Rockinghamites) in 18th-century British politics were a faction of the Whigs led by Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, from about 1762 until his death in 1782. The Rockingham Whigs briefly held power f ...
, the Whig party in Parliament became fragmented and presented little opposition to the broadly Tory ministries of
William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...
. Littleton voted with Pitt's government on most issues. Whigs were distinguished at least as much by their support of
the Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...
against his father,
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
, as with any specific cause. Littleton did not support the Prince and the
Foxite Foxite was a late 18th-century British political label for Whig followers of Charles James Fox. Fox was the generally acknowledged leader of a faction of the Whigs from 1784 to his death in 1806. The group had developed from successive earlier ...
Whigs in the
Regency crisis of 1788 Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a British Whig politician and statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch ...
but he did vote for their proposal to settle the Prince's debts in 1795. In 1791 he opposed the repeal of the
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in Scotland, an early move towards
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for
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, a cause that was to become an identifying mark of liberals in both Whig and Tory parties. On the other hand, in the very same year, he voted with the minority for abolition of the slave trade. One problem faced by Littleton, very much a countryman, was his lack of metropolitan contacts and polish. In 1795, the cultivated, liberal Tory
George Canning George Canning (; 11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as foreign secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the U ...
attended a dinner given by Littleton and wrote:
Poor Sir Ed, who is a
quiz A quiz is a form of mind sport in which people attempt to answer questions correctly on one or several topics. Quizzes can be used as a brief Educational assessment, assessment in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abil ...
of the first magnitude, and who I believe had not given a dinner for twenty years before, was all bustle and anxiety during the whole of the entertainment. He informed us at the outset that he had been able to get but two bottles of champagne, and he seemed to take it much to heart when anybody showed a disposition to drink other wine in a much larger proportion.
In his later years, Littleton showed considerably more dissent from the ministerial position on key issues. This was probably because the Leveson Gowers were increasingly opposed to Pitt, while his colleague from 1799, Lord Granville Leveson-Gower was personally sympathetic to the Whigs. From 1801 to 1804, Pitt's place as prime minister was taken by Addington, introduced as a caretaker for Pitt, but on increasingly strained terms with his former friend. This gave Pitt's opponents in both parties an opportunity to undermine him. The Leveson Gowers induced Littleton to join the opposition to Pitt's Additional Forces Bill of 1803. The measure, to create a large Reserve Army, was highly controversial and its course through Parliament tortuous. Littleton voted with the minority against its final form on 11 June 1804. This was his last known vote. Thereafter he was considered a doubtful supporter of Tory ministries, but the Whigs too were doubtful of his support. For much of the rest of his tenure of the Staffordshire seat, Littleton was either in default or on sick leave. He was considered still 'friendly' to the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, but was unable to vote for it. On his death in 1812, his nephew Edward Walhouse replaced him as MP, soon after changing his name to Littleton. He was a very different MP from the 4th Baronet: urbane, studious, a master of political detail and a determined debater, he first joined the
Canningite Canningites were a faction of British Tories in the first decade of the 19th century through the 1820s who were led by George Canning. The Canningites were distinct within the Tory party because they favoured Catholic emancipation and free tra ...
Tories, but later became a Whig.


Family

Littleton married Frances Horton in 1752. She died childless in 1781. As a result, there was no heir to the baronetcy, which therefore lapsed. Littleton's sister, also called Frances, had married Moreton Walhouse, a member of a business dynasty with valuable investments in the
Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...
area. Their grandson, Edward Walhouse was made heir to the Littleton estates, on condition that he change his name to Littleton, which he subsequently did. Heir to two fortunes, and thus a very rich man, he also became by far the most illustrious of the Littleton family politically, an important reformer and an active parliamentarian in both Houses for over fifty years, he served as
Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British Dublin Castle administration, administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretar ...
in the 1830s.


See also

* History of Penkridge


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Littleton, Edward 1720s births 1812 deaths Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Baronets in the Baronetage of England British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 High sheriffs of Staffordshire UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies People from Penkridge 18th-century English landowners 19th-century English landowners