Sir John Shelley, 5th Baronet
Sir John Shelley, 5th Baronet (1730 – 11 September 1783), of Michelgrove in Sussex, was an English Member of Parliament.
He was the eldest son of Sir John Shelley, 4th Baronet and Margaret Pelham, two of whose brothers (Henry Pelham and The Duke of Newcastle) served as British Prime Minister. He entered Parliament at a by-election in 1751, probably at the first opportunity once he was legally old enough to do so, as member for East Retford, a pocket borough owned by his uncle Newcastle; the vacancy arose from the appointment of the sitting MP as a Commissioner of the Excise, quite possibly with the specific intention of freeing the seat for Shelley. He represented this constituency until 1768 when, having fallen out with Newcastle, he moved to represent nearby Newark (which had once also been under Newcastle's control but now belonged to another of Newcastle's nephews, the Earl of Lincoln, who had also quarrelled with his uncle). He was later also MP for New Shoreham.
In 1755, on the recommendation of Newcastle (who had become Prime Minister on his brother's death the previous year), Shelley was appointed to the desirable sinecure-for-life of Keeper of the Records of the Tower of London, worth £420 a year. In 1757 he acquired another lucrative post, Clerk of the Pipe, and in 1766 he became Treasurer of His Majesty's Household and was appointed to the Privy Council.
Shelley succeeded to the baronetcy on his father's death on 5 September 1771. He married Wilhelmina Newnham (died 1772), daughter of John Newnham of Maresfield Park, by whom he had a son, John, who succeeded him. After the death of his first wife he married again, to Elizabeth Woodcock, and they had three daughters.
He retired from Parliament in 1780, and died in 1783.
References
- Robert Beatson, "A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament" (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]
- Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1961)
- Shelley genealogy
- Leigh Rayment's list of baronets [self-published source][better source needed]
Political offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | Treasurer of the Household 1766–1777 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Carlisle |
Parliament of Great Britain | ||
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for East Retford with John White 1751–1768 |
Succeeded by Sir Cecil Wray John Offley |
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Newark with John Manners 1768–1774 |
Succeeded by George Manners-Sutton Henry Clinton |
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for New Shoreham with Charles Goring 1774–1780 |
Succeeded by Sir Cecil Bisshopp John Peachey |
Baronetage of England | ||
Preceded by | Baronet (of Michelgrove) 1771-1783 |
Succeeded by John Shelley |
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- 1730 births
- 1783 deaths
- Baronets in the Baronetage of England
- Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
- British MPs 1747–54
- British MPs 1754–61
- British MPs 1761–68
- British MPs 1768–74
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- Treasurers of the Household
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