Sir William Harbord, 1st Baronet (c. 1696 – 17 February 1770), of Gunton and

Suffield, Norfolk Suffield is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is south of Cromer, north of Norwich and north of London. The village lies east of the A140 between Cromer and Norwich. The nearest railway station is a ...

, 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 between 1734 and 1754.

Early life

Harbord was born William Morden, the eldest son of John Morden of Suffield and his wife Judith Cropley, daughter of William Cropley of Shelland in Suffolk. He went to school in Thurlow and

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

before being admitted at

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges an ...

on 4 February 1713 aged 16. In 1716, he was admitted at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

. He succeeded his father to the Suffield estate in 1726. He married Elizabeth Britiffe, daughter of Robert Britiffe,

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

on 25 April 1732.

Career

As Morden, he was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for

Bere Alston Bere Alston is a village in West Devon in the county of Devon in England. It forms part of the civil parish of Bere Ferrers. The village is reported to have a population of 2,259 (2021 Census) History and geography With a population of a ...

by his neighbour Sir John Hobart, 5th Baronet at a by-election on 5 February 1734. 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 ...

with the heavy financial backing of

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...

, he stood and lost at

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. He was returned unopposed as MP for

Dunwich Dunwich () is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon ...

at a by-election on 21 February 1738. 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 went back to Bere Alston where he was returned unopposed. In 1742, Morden inherited the Norfolk properties of his mother's brother

Harbord Harbord Harbord Harbord (possibly 1675 – 28 January 1742) was an East Anglian landowner and Member of Parliament. He was known as Harbord Cropley from his birth until 1710. Life He was the eldest son of Colonel William Cropley of Shelland in Suffolk ...

, and assumed the surname Harbord in place of that of Morden by royal licence to meet the will's conditions. In the 1740s he began the construction of

Gunton Hall Gunton Hall, Gunton Park, is a large country house near Suffield in Norfolk. History The estate belonged to the Gunton family in the 12th century, to the Berney family in the 16th century and later to the Jermyn family. The current house was ...

Matthew Brettingham Matthew Brettingham (1699 – 19 August 1769), sometimes called Matthew Brettingham the Elder, was an English architect who supervised the construction of Holkham Hall, and became one of the best-known architects of his generation, despi ...

. He was made a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath on 28 May 1744 and a

baronet 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 22 March 1746. He was returned unopposed again 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 voted consistently for the Government. He retired 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 ...

Death and legacy

Harbord died on 17 February 1770, leaving two sons. His eldest son Harbord (1734–1810) succeeded to the baronetcy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harbord, William 1770 deaths Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Bere Alston People from North Norfolk (district) Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Whig members of the Parliament of Great Britain Year of birth uncertain