Sir Edward Leighton, 1st Baronet

Sir Edward Leighton, 1st Baronet (c.1650ā€“1711), of Wattlesborough Castle, Shropshire, was a Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1698 and 1710.

Early life

Wattlesborough Tower

Leighton was the eldest surviving son of Robert Leighton of Wattlesborough Castle and his wife Gertrude Baldwin, daughter of Edward Baldwin of Diddlebury, Shropshire.[1] He was educated at Shrewsbury School in 1661, and matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford on 5 August 1668, aged 18, and was admitted at Inner Temple in 1669.[2] He married Dorothy Charlton, daughter of Sir Job Charlton, 1st Baronet of Ludford, Herefordshire on 24 May 1677. She died in 1688, and in 1689 he succeeded his father to Wattlesborough.. For the year 1692 to 1693, he was High Sheriff of Shropshire. He was created a baronet on 2 March 1693. On 29 July 1693, he married as his second wife, Jane Nicholls, daughter of Daniel Nicholls, merchant, of London.[1]

Career

Leighton stood as a Whig for both Shrewsbury and Shropshire at the 1695 English general election but was defeated at both constituencies. At the 1698 English general election he was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for Shropshire. He was relatively inactive in Parliament and voted against a bill to disband the army on 18 January 1699. He did not stand again in the next four general elections.[3]

Leighton stood as a Whig at the 1708 British general election for Shrewsbury and was defeated in the poll. However he petitioned and was seated as MP on 20 December 1709. He voted for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell, in 1710 and in April 1710 was probably the Leighton who signed a letter to the lord lieutenant, objecting to the manner by which the Shrewsbury Tories wrote an address to the Queen in favour of Sacheverell. He lost his seat at the 1710 British general election.[3]

Deathand legacy

Leighton died in April 1711 and was buried at Alderbury, Shropshire, on 6 April. He had three sons and four daughters by each of his wives. He left Wattlesborough Castle to his widow for her lifetime. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Edward, who changed the family residence to Loton Park.[3]

gollark: <@486884347039842305>
gollark: LXDE.
gollark: I have a jailbroken Kindle.
gollark: ```Iā€™m getting started in hacking. I want to start of learning the basics of how to send links over email, or hack my own phones/computers through WiFiIf you know any websites good for starters. Dark websites are good to```
gollark: It's pretty funny how many people take this place *seriously*.

References

  1. Cokayne, George Edward, ed. (1904), Complete Baronetage volume 4 (1665-1707), 4, Exeter: William Pollard and Co, retrieved 2 February 2019
  2. Foster, Joseph. "Lee-Llewellin in Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714 pp.892-921". British History Online. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  3. "LEIGHTON, Sir Edward, 1st Bt. (c.1650-1711), of Wattlesborough Castle, Salop". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
Parliament of England
Preceded by
Edward Kynaston
Hon. Richard Newport
Member of Parliament for Shropshire
1698ā€“1701
With: Edward Kynaston 1698-1699
Robert Lloyd 1699-1701
Succeeded by
Robert Lloyd
Sir Humphrey Briggs
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Richard Mytton
John Kynaston
Member of Parliament for Shrewsbury
1709ā€“1710
With: Thomas Jones 1710
Succeeded by
Edward Cressett
Richard Mytton
Baronetage of England
Preceded by
New creation
Baronet
(of Wattlesborough)
1693-1711
Succeeded by
Sir Edward Leighton, 2nd Baronet
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.