Sir John Evelyn, 2nd Baronet (24 August 1706 – 11 June 1767) was a British courtier and Whig 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 ...

for 40 years from 1727 to 1767. Evelyn was born in Wotton, the eldest son of

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diary, diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's Diary, ...

, Commissioner of the customs, and his wife Anne Boscawen, daughter of Edward Boscawen. Cokayne, George Edward (1906)
Complete Baronetage
'. Volume V. Exeter: W. Pollard & Co. . p. 17 He matriculated at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

, on 28 May 1725, aged 18. Evelyn was returned unopposed by Lord Godolphin as Member of Parliament for

Helston Helston () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the The Lizard, Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: ...

at the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

. He voted with the Administration until 1738. He entered the service of Frederick, Prince of Wales, as Equerry from 1731 to 1733 and Groom of the bedchamber from 1733 to 1751. He was returned unopposed again as MP for Helston at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of Great Britain, House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scot ...

. In 1738, he followed Prince Frederick into opposition and was one of the opposition Whigs who withdrew on the motion to remove Walpole in February 1741. 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 ...

, he was returned as MP for Penryn by Lord Falmouth. He continued to follow the Prince’s politics, and supported the Administration after the fall of Walpole in 1742 until 1747, when Frederick reverted to opposition. At the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th 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 Hen ...

, he was returned again for Helston as a member of the Prince’s party, when Frederick paid £300 towards his election expenses. After Frederick’s death, Evelyn went over to the Government side. 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 ...

, Evelyn was returned unopposed again as an MP for Helston. He was appointed clerk of the household to George, Prince of Wales in 1756. In 1760, he was appointed

Clerk of the Green Cloth The Clerk of the Green Cloth was a position in the British Royal Household. The clerk acted as secretary of the Board of Green Cloth, and was therefore responsible for organising royal journeys and assisting in the administration of the Royal H ...

to George, Prince of Wales, subsequently

King 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 ...

. He was returned again as MP for Helston at the 1761 British general election. He succeeded to 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 the death of his father on 15 July 1763. Evelyn married Mary Boscawen, the fourth daughter of his maternal uncle Hugh Boscawen, on 17 August 1732 at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. She was born on 12 November 1705 and was baptised on 21 November 1705 at St. James's, Westminster. She died on 15 September 1749, and was buried at Wotton. He died on 11 June 1767 aged 60 in Wotton and was buried there 8 days later. He was succeeded by his only son

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...

. There is a known lifetime portrait of Sir John, Attributed to Jonathan Richardson with family provenance formally with Cider House Galleries Ltd.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evelyn, John, 2nd Baronet of Wotton 1706 births 1767 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall