560:. In June 1829, as Magistrate for Staffordshire he prevented a prize-fight (boxing match) happening between Phil Sampson and Simon Byrne at Bishops Wood by arresting the carpenter in charge of building the stage. The following day, as he would not be persuaded to allow the fight to take place, it was moved as short distance west to a field owned by Richard Jones of Offoxey Farm (aka Huncott or Hunkit) in Tong parish He was the longest serving member of the Staffordshire bench when he died. His estates largely prospered, particularly Coven, which saw the beginning of population growth that would turn it into a substantial village by mid-century. The first
80:
364:
south, to cross the Penk at
Somerford Mill. The existing bridge at that point was of good quality but suitable only for foot traffic, and its maintenance was Monckton's responsibility. It emerged that, even if he paid for a new route, the cost of maintaining a new carriage bridge might in future fall on the parish, which the other members of the vestry refused to countenance. Later Monckton came up with a compromise scheme. He agreed to divert the road to the north of his property instead and paid for the construction of a new, straighter section to Four Ashes, on the main turnpike road between Wolverhampton and Stafford.
580:
368:
72:
64:
249:, whose property had been handed over to the Nawab. This opened up a rift between the governor and many on his council – a rift that rapidly widened as Pigot asserted his own interest in the Tanjore estates. Pigot's enemies carried out a coup d'état on 24 August 1776 and imprisoned him some miles from Madras. Both sides appealed to the Company in London. Pigot was declared reinstated but ordered to return to London. However, he died on 11 May 1777, still in confinement, before the judgement arrived in India.
410:, standing jointly with Monckton as a Whig, got 248 votes and was declared Stafford's second MP, after apparently paying 5 guineas to each elector. Sheridan, a close friend of Mary Monckton, was to have a brilliant parliamentary, as well as literary, career but Monckton himself made a much slighter impression. Although he was to remain MP for Stafford for 32 years, 26 of them in harness with Sheridan, there is no record that he ever spoke in a debate, although he did attend frequently, took part in numerous
380:, giving him land and houses around the centre of the town: this land was to remain leased by the Monckton family until 1903, after which they bought it outright. Monckton bought Engleton Hall, on the Penk north of Somerford, in 1785. Engleton Hall was intended as a home for Monckton heirs, starting with his son, also called Edward, but it was later let as a farm. With it came Brewood Hall, a substantial 17th century house on the eastern edge of Brewood, which Monckton earmarked in a
26:
269:
276:
It is not clear whether
Monckton had been negotiating for Somerford before the Pigot's fall, but it seems likely that the Pigot connection played some part in directing him to this part of Staffordshire, an area in which he had no previous interests. The children of the Viscount's first wife retained
244:
It was at this point that
Monckton effectively staked his career on an alliance with Pigot, marrying Sophia, the governor's illegitimate daughter, on 14 March 1776. However, Pigot almost immediately precipitated a major political scandal that led to his own downfall. Reversing the company's policy of
375:
Monckton soon began to extend his property interests in the area, buying several more estates in
Brewood parish. First seems to have been Aspley, a small estate near Coven, on the bank of the canal, which he acquired shortly after Somerford itself. In 1780 he leased the Deanery Manor of Brewood from
363:
Monckton's improving zeal soon brought him into conflict with his neighbours, as the road from
Brewood to Wolverhampton passed close to Somerford Hall and through its grounds, which Monckton was reforesting and improving. At a hotly contested vestry meeting in 1781 he tried to have it routed further
355:
Monckton soon set about improving the house, having a large porch built and stucco applied to the walls. He planted large numbers of trees to replace the timber taken by the previous cash-strapped owners and then built or refurbished large numbers of farm buildings. A waterworks was installed on the
321:
around 1770. Despite these economic advantages, Robert Barbor's descendants seem to have got into financial difficulties and were several times in danger of losing the house before
Monckton bought it. The purchase of the Hall brought him both the manor of Somerford and that of Coven, together making
103:
and
William, the second Viscount, were older half-brothers, by Lady Elizabeth Manners, who died in 1730. The Viscount's Irish peerage was purely a convenient way of ennobling a government supporter while still allowing him to sit in the House of Commons. The family were of Yorkshire origin, based at
123:
Viscount Galway had married Jane
Westenra in 1734 while serving as Commissioner of Revenue in Ireland. They had three surviving sons together, of whom Edward was the third, and a daughter. Edward's father died when he was six years old, although his mother survived until 1788. The children of the
147:
at the age of 18. Such posts were awarded through patronage, not merit. They were in the gift of the company's
Directors and were usually obtained through use of family and political contacts. They could be a source of great profit, although the legitimacy of some practices engaged in by company
547:
Monckton was returned unopposed, with
Sheridan, in 1796 and 1802. In 1806 and 1807 he was elected alongside Richard Mansel Philipps, a radical Whig who was soon mired in scandal over debt and fraud. In 1812 Monckton announced his retirement from Parliament and did not stand for election again.
281:
in Northamptonshire. Somerford established a focus for this junior branch of the Monckton family. Edward's mother, Jane, the dowager Viscountess Galway, was buried in Brewood church in 1788, and so were Edward himself and Sophia in due course, and in 1840 Edward's younger sister
479:
The Portland Whigs made overtures to Monckton and he met with them on 11 May 1790. He and Sheridan again topped the poll at Stafford in the general election of June 1790, with exactly 264 votes each. Monckton's acceptance into the Whig elite was formalised by membership of
223:. Pigot defended his friends and colleagues, not always temperately. Having alienated the ministry at home, Pigot then found that his financial position had deteriorated. Much of his wealth derived from an annual pension of 12,000 pagodas (about £4500) paid to him by the
384:
as a home for his wife after his death: in fact, Sophia never moved into it. The purchase did not include all of the Engleton estate, which had been divided in two as long ago as the 14th century, and Monckton was not able to purchase the rest of it until 1811.
406:. Around 1774, the Chetwynds had lost control, although family members would represent the borough again in the future, and the electorate, mostly tradesmen, were free to sell their vote to the highest bidder. It took 258 votes for Monckton to top the poll.
241:. The Nawab seems to have ceased his payments around 1773, forcing Pigot to return to paid employment. He was able to resume his old post at Madras after the Whig opposition demanded the Company reinstate him. He arrived in Madras in December 1775.
544:, a Tory who was popular with all parties, to assure him of support should the ministry try to dislodge him. He sided with the Whigs throughout the Regency crises of 1810 and 1811, but voted against Parliamentary reform in 1810.
491:
in 1789 was already causing internal schism and regrouping among the Whigs, but for some time Monckton continued to vote for radical and liberal measures and against the government. In April 1791 he supported repeal of the
393:
Monckton first contested the Stafford Borough constituency in the general election of 12 September 1780. Stafford was generally described as “venal” and it was very expensive to contest. This was because it was no longer a
587:
Edward Monckton was married only once: to Sophia, the illegitimate daughter of George Pigot. Sophia died in 1834. Together they had 14 children and all but one survived into adulthood. These included his heir, also called
192:. Pigot returned to England in 1763, only a year after Monckton's arrival. Nevertheless, his career was to overshadow Monckton's own and to determine the general course of the remainder of his life in many ways.
116:, secured by the first Viscount's purchase of 77 burgages, and represented in Parliament by Moncktons for more than 70 years. The Viscount also extended the family's property by the building of a new seat:
441:, failed to maintain Whig unity. Disputes focussed superficially on the ambiguity of Shelburne's peace manoeuvres, although there was actually a strong personal rivalry between Shelburne and the radical
639:
512:
from Pitt. Thereafter, the Portland Whigs disappeared as a distinct faction Portland was considered a Tory, although he was to prove a rallying point within the party for dissident, liberal Tories like
468:, probably because their wealth made a contest pointless. However, large numbers of Whigs lost their seats, becoming known as "Fox's Martyrs", and Pitt was able to form a secure Tory administration.
882:
942:
360:
to bring water to the house, where it was stored in a rooftop reservoir, and the surplus from the system was run out into the gardens and grounds to water flowers and strawberry beds.
927:
456:
the East India Company. Monckton, obviously an expert on the subject, voted for the bill on 27 November 1783. George III personally ensured that the bill was thrown out by the
787:
Victoria County History – A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 5: East Cuttlestone hundred, L. Margaret Midgley (editor), 1959, chapter 8: Brewood, Section 3: Manors
164:
Monckton was employed initially as a Writer, a junior clerk responsible for maintaining correspondence and accounts. He rose steadily through the ranks of the Company
429:
in 1778. The war was rapidly eroding support for Lord North's ministry, and Monckton voted consistently against North's government in its dying days, siding with the
475:. He joined the Whig Club on 4 April 1785. The Whig party was increasingly divided between the rump of the Foxite faction and a mainstream grouping around
449:
faction and voted against the Shelburne ministry on the peace negotiations, bringing it down in favour of a short-lived and unpopular Fox-North Coalition.
434:
340:, so their direct power never matched their influence. Most of their tenantry were Catholic too, while the other landowners and farmers were mainly Tory
252:
Monckton resigned from the East India Company's service a few months later and returned to England in 1778. Within a year, he and Sophia had moved into
476:
654:
83:
Serlby Hall. The 1st Viscount Galway's hall was replaced by William, the 2nd Viscount, who was largely responsible for the present building.
195:
Pigot was welcomed by the Whig government and loaded with honours: a baronetcy, closely followed by an Irish peerage. He set himself up at
17:
813:
561:
932:
693:
628:
283:
129:
305:
The Somerford estate had been bought in 1734 for £5,400 by Robert Barbor, of the Inner Temple, and he had erected a substantial
537:
318:
749:
422:
257:
726:
438:
299:
180:
in 1773, and senior merchant in 1774. At the time of Monckton's posting, the Governor and Commander-in-Chief at Madras was
564:
church in the parish was built there in 1828, probably an indication of Monckton's proven tolerance in religious matters.
541:
295:
219:. North's supporters sought to attack the Whigs by discrediting the record of their allies in the colonies, particularly
947:
902:
897:
892:
887:
135:
Monckton was educated at a private school in Chelsea, an area where there were many schools developing alternatives to
88:
771:
501:
802:
556:
Monckton devoted his final two decades to his estates and life in Staffordshire. He was an active and enthusiastic
287:
844:
529:
472:
207:
and became MP for Bridgnorth in 1768. However, his situation altered drastically in 1770, with the coming of the
188:
who had risen from the post of writer to total supremacy in the Presidency, holding it against the French in the
532:
financial position: the Prince was closely associated with the Whig opposition. He also gave general support to
208:
136:
45:
705:
J.S. Cockburn, H.P.F. King, K.G.T. McDonnell (Editors): Victoria County History – Middlesex, vol. 1, chap. 38.
922:
917:
912:
907:
497:
465:
371:
Engleton Hall, now a farmhouse on the right of the group, was built by Monckton on the site of an older hall.
332:, a short distance south-west of Somerford. The Giffards were wealthy and had large holdings in land, but as
181:
256:
in Staffordshire, a few miles north-east of Patshull Park. A year after that Monckton was elected an MP for
597:
500:. On 1 March 1792 he voted with the Whigs against the government's intervention on the Ottoman side in the
937:
533:
525:
212:
418:
227:
496:
in Scotland, a measure intended to begin the process of restoring civil rights to Roman Catholics and
505:
407:
345:
658:
79:
461:
411:
124:
second marriage lived with Jane Westenra, who had a house in London where she often entertained
855:
291:
833:
786:
739:
716:
Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies Inc.: The East India Company & British India
306:
704:
452:
One of the coalition ministry's most important measures was an East India Bill, designed to
877:
872:
679:
579:
557:
367:
328:
parish was at that time an intensely conservative area, dominated by the Giffard family of
313:
in 1744 and joined it with Somerford. Coven was rapidly transformed by the building of the
310:
71:
8:
504:. However, with most of the Portland Whigs, he supported the government's entry into the
377:
337:
189:
173:
67:
Memorial to Jane Westenra, with names of her husband and children, Brewood parish church
426:
238:
144:
520:
Monckton too tended to support the government throughout the French Revolutionary and
277:
the Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire connections, while Edward's brother John had bought
75:
Hodroyd Hall, near Barnsley, seat of the Monckton family since the early 17th century.
63:
745:
640:
University of Nottingham: Biography of John Monckton, 1st Viscount Galway (1695–1751)
488:
442:
399:
153:
508:, while the Foxites continued to oppose war. In 1794, Portland accepted the post of
814:
The History of Parliament: Members 1754–1790 – MANSEL PHILIPPS, Richard (1768–1844)
567:
On his death, Monckton was succeeded in his estates by his son Edward. He left his
430:
329:
571:
stock to be invested for the instruction of the people of Madras in Christianity.
568:
521:
453:
333:
278:
100:
143:, he was compelled to seek his own fortune. He entered the civil service of the
514:
509:
457:
395:
314:
253:
231:
169:
125:
96:
421:, which Britain was in the process of losing, and in which Monckton's brother
866:
824:
Leamington Spa Courier 4 July 1829 and Aris's Birmingham Gazette 6 July 1829.
464:
prime minister. Monckton and Sheridan were returned unopposed in the ensuing
403:
204:
196:
185:
49:
524:. However, he took an independent line on many issues. In 1803 he supported
220:
92:
25:
596:, who became a general in the army, extended the family estates by buying
398:, as it had been until a few years earlier, when it was controlled by the
286:. Monckton took a leading part in county life from the outset, becoming a
484:
Club, for which he was sponsored by Portland himself on 7 February 1791.
481:
341:
177:
165:
40:(3 November 1744 – 1 July 1832) was a British colonial administrator and
834:
Victoria County History – Staffordshire, volume 5, chapter 8, section 1
741:
Gentlemen Capitalists: British Imperialism in South East Asia, 1770–1890
245:
alliance with the Nawab of Arcot, Pigot declared the restoration of the
856:
Victoria County History – Staffordshire, volume 5, chapter 9, section 3
774:
The Records of the Queen's Own Royal Regiment of Staffordshire Yeomanry
357:
216:
200:
140:
113:
715:
52:
694:
The History of Parliament: Members 1790–1820 – MONCKTON, Hon. Edward
629:
The History of Parliament: Members 1754–1790 – MONCKTON, Hon. Edward
437:
himself died shortly after replacing North in 1782. The new leader,
268:
493:
381:
298:
when it was raised on 20 September 1794, and which he commanded as
246:
109:
48:
politician, a member of parliament for 32 years, and an important
325:
30:
583:
Memorial to the children of Edward and Sophia Monckton, Brewood.
600:, and inherited the remainder on the death of his brother; and
446:
349:
302:
from March 1800 until his retirement aged 86 in December 1829.
149:
117:
105:
803:
The History of Parliament: Constituencies 1754–1790 – Stafford
352:. Monckton was an improving landlord with innovative schemes.
883:
Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies
471:
Over the next few years, Monckton consistently voted against
224:
91:(1695–1751) by his second wife, Jane Westenra of Rathleague,
41:
943:
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stafford
680:
James Boswell: Life of Johnson, vol. 4, at Project Gutenberg
156:
and the life expectancy of Europeans in India was not high.
414:
and was active for some years in Whig factional politics.
928:
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Stafford
99:. The distinguished soldier and colonial administrator
604:, who inherited his uncle's seat of Fineshade Abbey.
172:in 1768, sheriff in 1770, junior merchant in 1771;
272:Somerford Hall, Monckton's home for over 50 years.
417:The overarching issue in the early years was the
864:
624:
622:
620:
618:
616:
477:William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland
737:
649:
647:
322:up the south-eastern corner of Brewood parish.
460:, then dismissed the government and appointed
237:In 1772 Monckton was sent on a mission to the
776:, Lichfield: Lomax, 1870, pp. 2–72; Appendix.
613:
148:civil servants was debatable, He was sent to
798:
796:
794:
727:The History of Parliament: Members 1754–1790
689:
687:
644:
592:, who died unmarried and childless in 1848;
445:. Both Monckton and Sheridan sided with the
132:learned the skills of the literary hostess.
58:
18:Edward Monckton (North Northamptonshire MP)
845:Coven at A Vision of Britain through Time
791:
684:
317:in the 1760s and the construction of the
578:
366:
336:were excluded from public office by the
267:
263:
87:Monckton was the fifth surviving son of
78:
70:
62:
24:
284:Mary Boyle, Countess of Cork and Orrery
865:
655:"Inscription in Brewood parish church"
319:Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
309:. Barbor had also bought the manor of
738:Anthony Webster (15 September 1998).
540:during 1806–7. However, he contacted
128:, and where Edward's younger sister,
139:education. As the younger son of an
13:
388:
89:John Monckton, 1st Viscount Galway
14:
959:
933:Staffordshire Yeomanry officers
849:
838:
827:
818:
807:
780:
765:
346:Church of St. Mary and St. Chad
29:Memorial to Edward Monckton in
731:
720:
709:
698:
673:
633:
551:
1:
607:
95:, Ireland, a relative of the
598:Stretton Hall, Staffordshire
344:, worshipping at the parish
33:parish church, Staffordshire
7:
534:Ministry of All the Talents
348:, where they dominated the
213:Frederick North, Lord North
10:
964:
744:. I.B.Tauris. p. 38.
419:American Revolutionary War
228:Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
120:in north Nottinghamshire.
15:
948:Younger sons of viscounts
574:
506:French Revolutionary Wars
408:Richard Brinsley Sheridan
215:, which was supported by
112:. The family borough was
59:Background and early life
462:William Pitt the Younger
159:
152:, winter capital of the
16:Not to be confused with
425:had been killed at the
234:for services rendered.
584:
372:
292:Staffordshire Yeomanry
290:and an officer in the
273:
84:
76:
68:
34:
903:British MPs 1796–1800
898:British MPs 1790–1796
893:British MPs 1784–1790
888:British MPs 1780–1784
772:Capt P.C.G. Webster,
582:
536:, headed by the Whig
370:
294:, which he joined as
271:
264:Staffordshire estates
82:
74:
66:
28:
558:Justice of the Peace
487:The outbreak of the
288:Justice of the Peace
661:on 19 November 2008
378:Lichfield Cathedral
938:Sheriffs of Madras
585:
562:Wesleyan Methodist
427:Battle of Monmouth
373:
296:Lieutenant-Colonel
274:
239:Sultanate of Kedah
145:East India Company
108:and Hodroyd, near
85:
77:
69:
35:
751:978-1-86064-171-8
530:Prince of Wales's
502:Russo-Turkish War
489:French Revolution
443:Charles James Fox
154:Madras Presidency
955:
923:UK MPs 1807–1812
918:UK MPs 1806–1807
913:UK MPs 1802–1806
908:UK MPs 1801–1802
858:
853:
847:
842:
836:
831:
825:
822:
816:
811:
805:
800:
789:
784:
778:
769:
763:
762:
760:
758:
735:
729:
724:
718:
713:
707:
702:
696:
691:
682:
677:
671:
670:
668:
666:
657:. Archived from
651:
642:
637:
631:
626:
466:general election
431:Rockingham Whigs
330:Chillington Hall
190:Seven Years' War
963:
962:
958:
957:
956:
954:
953:
952:
863:
862:
861:
854:
850:
843:
839:
832:
828:
823:
819:
812:
808:
801:
792:
785:
781:
770:
766:
756:
754:
752:
736:
732:
725:
721:
714:
710:
703:
699:
692:
685:
678:
674:
664:
662:
653:
652:
645:
638:
634:
627:
614:
610:
577:
554:
528:defence of the
526:John Calcraft's
522:Napoleonic Wars
473:Pitt's ministry
391:
389:MP for Stafford
334:Roman Catholics
279:Fineshade Abbey
266:
247:Raja of Tanjore
162:
101:Robert Monckton
97:Barons Rossmore
61:
38:Edward Monckton
21:
12:
11:
5:
961:
951:
950:
945:
940:
935:
930:
925:
920:
915:
910:
905:
900:
895:
890:
885:
880:
875:
860:
859:
848:
837:
826:
817:
806:
790:
779:
764:
750:
730:
719:
708:
697:
683:
672:
643:
632:
611:
609:
606:
576:
573:
553:
550:
515:George Canning
510:Home Secretary
498:Nonconformists
458:House of Lords
396:pocket borough
390:
387:
342:High Churchmen
307:Georgian house
265:
262:
254:Somerford Hall
161:
158:
126:Samuel Johnson
93:Queen's County
60:
57:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
960:
949:
946:
944:
941:
939:
936:
934:
931:
929:
926:
924:
921:
919:
916:
914:
911:
909:
906:
904:
901:
899:
896:
894:
891:
889:
886:
884:
881:
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876:
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871:
870:
868:
857:
852:
846:
841:
835:
830:
821:
815:
810:
804:
799:
797:
795:
788:
783:
777:
775:
768:
753:
747:
743:
742:
734:
728:
723:
717:
712:
706:
701:
695:
690:
688:
681:
676:
660:
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650:
648:
641:
636:
630:
625:
623:
621:
619:
617:
612:
605:
603:
599:
595:
591:
581:
572:
570:
565:
563:
559:
549:
545:
543:
542:Speaker Abbot
539:
535:
531:
527:
523:
518:
516:
511:
507:
503:
499:
495:
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485:
483:
478:
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469:
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448:
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436:
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404:Ingestre Hall
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397:
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361:
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323:
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315:turnpike road
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206:
205:Wolverhampton
202:
198:
197:Patshull Hall
193:
191:
187:
186:self-made man
183:
179:
175:
171:
168:, becoming a
167:
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137:public school
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111:
107:
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90:
81:
73:
65:
56:
54:
51:
50:Staffordshire
47:
43:
39:
32:
27:
23:
19:
851:
840:
829:
820:
809:
782:
773:
767:
755:. Retrieved
740:
733:
722:
711:
700:
675:
663:. Retrieved
659:the original
635:
601:
593:
589:
586:
566:
555:
546:
519:
486:
470:
451:
416:
392:
376:the Dean of
374:
362:
354:
324:
304:
275:
251:
243:
236:
221:Robert Clive
211:ministry of
194:
182:George Pigot
174:assay master
163:
134:
122:
104:Cavil, near
86:
37:
36:
22:
878:1832 deaths
873:1744 births
552:Later years
454:nationalise
433:. However,
166:bureaucracy
118:Serlby Hall
867:Categories
608:References
435:Rockingham
358:River Penk
338:Penal Laws
217:George III
201:Bridgnorth
199:, between
141:Irish peer
114:Pontefract
538:Grenville
439:Shelburne
412:divisions
400:Chetwynds
53:landowner
757:20 April
665:12 March
569:Carnatic
494:Test Act
482:Brooks's
382:jointure
258:Stafford
110:Barnsley
356:nearby
326:Brewood
300:Colonel
176:at the
31:Brewood
748:
590:Edward
575:Family
447:Foxite
350:vestry
170:factor
150:Madras
106:Howden
594:Henry
423:Henry
311:Coven
232:Arcot
225:Nawab
160:India
42:nabob
759:2012
746:ISBN
667:2012
602:John
209:Tory
203:and
184:, a
178:mint
130:Mary
46:Whig
44:, a
402:of
230:of
869::
793:^
686:^
646:^
615:^
517:.
260:.
55:.
761:.
669:.
20:.
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