Winchcombe Henry Hartley (1740–1794) was a British politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. ...

between 1776 and 1794. Hartley was the second son of David Hartley, physician and philosopher and his second wife. Elizabeth Packer, daughter of

Robert Packer Robert Packer (12 September 1614 – 25 February 1682) of Shellingford, Berkshire was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1646 and 1679, as well as being Usher of the Exchequer. Packer was the eldest ...

MP of Bucklebury and was born on 20 May 1740. He inherited the estates in Berkshire and Gloucestershire of his uncle Henry Packer of Bucklebury in 1746. He entered

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1756 and matriculated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

on 11 November 1757. His first wife was called Harriet. He married secondly Mary Jenkinson, widow of St. Anne’s, Soho on 30 August 1777. Hartley was returned

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

in a by-election on 21 February 1776. He was returned again in the

1780 Events January–March * January 16 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Cape St. Vincent: British Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a Spanish fleet. * February 19 – The legislature of New York votes to allow ...

without a contest. He followed his brother

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

’s politics and consistently opposed North’s Administration.

The Public Ledger ''The Public Ledger'' is one of the world's longest continuously running magazines. Today it provides agricultural commodity news, analyses and prices. When established in 1760, however, it not only contained prices of commodities in London, but ...

wrote in 1779, that he “sometimes speaks, which he had better let alone; his speeches, though not as long as those of his half-brother, are flat and empty.” In 1784 he was defeated in Berkshire. He also stood for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, but retired after the first day’s poll. Hartley’s wife Mary died on 15 April 1786 and he married as his third wife Anne Blackwell, daughter of

Samuel Blackwell Samuel Blackwell (died 1785) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1784. Blackwell was born Samuel Killican, who became the adopted son of Jonathan Blackwell of Northaw, Hertfordshire. Jonathan Blackwell died in ...

MP of Williamstrip Park, Gloucestershire on 25 August 1787. He had joined the Whig Club shortly after his defeat in 1784 and regained the Berkshire seat in the 1790 general election, when he was returned unopposed on the interest dominated by Lord Craven. He was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the

North Gloucestershire Militia The Royal North Gloucestershire Militia (RNGM), later the 4th (Militia) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment was a Militia regiment raised in the county of Gloucestershire in the West of England. From its formal creation in 1763 the regiment serve ...

(in succession to Blackwell) in 1785, and was promoted to

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in 1793 when the regiment was embodied at the beginning of the

French Revolutionary War The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

. However, by June 1793 he was in very poor health and died on 12 August 1794, aged 54.Maj

Wilfred Joseph Cripps Wilfred Joseph Cripps (8 June 1841 – 26 October 1903) was an English antiquarian and a writer on antique silver plate. Early life Cripps was born in London into a wealthy family who profited from the wool trade in the Cotswolds and were promine ...

(revised by Capt Hon M.H. Hicks-Beach & Maj B.N. Spraggett), ''The Royal North Gloucester Militia'', 2nd Edn, Cirencester: Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard Printing Works, 1914, pp. 58–9; Appendix A.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartley, Winchcombe Henry 1740 births 1794 deaths Members of Lincoln's Inn Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Gloucestershire Militia officers British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1790–1796 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Berkshire