John Ashburnham, 1st Earl of Ashburnham (13 March 1687 – 10 March 1737) was a British Army officer and 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. T ...

briefly in 1710 when he unexpectedly succeeded to the peerage and sat in the House of Lords.

Early life

Ashburnham was the second son of

John Ashburnham, 1st Baron Ashburnham John Ashburnham, 1st Baron Ashburnham (15 January 1656 – 21 January 1710) was an English landowner and politician. Ashburnham was the son of William Ashburnham and the grandson of John Ashburnham. His mother was the Honourable Elizabeth, daug ...

, and his wife, Bridget Vaughan, daughter of Walter Vaughan of Porthamel House,

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the c ...

, South Wales, who had inherited

Pembrey Pembrey ( Welsh: ''Pen-bre'') is a village in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated between Burry Port and Kidwelly, overlooking Carmarthen Bay, with a population of about 2,154 in 2011. The electoral ward having a population of 4,301. It is in the ...

. In January 1707, he became a Guidon and major in the 1st Horse Guards through the efforts of his father.

Career

At the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs finally gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November ...

Ashburnham stood for Rye where his father had an interest, but was unsuccessful. After his brother, William, inherited his father's barony of Ashburnham in 1709, he was returned in his place as

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

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 o ...

for

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

at a by-election on 10 February 1710. A few months later, his brother died childless, and he himself inherited the peerage. He gave up his seat in the House of Commons which remained vacant until the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junt ...

. Soon after this he realised that he had to abandon his family's mild pro-Jacobite stance and support the Whigs. From 1713 to 1715, Ashburnham became Colonel of the 1st (His Majesty's Own) Troop of Horse Guards, and was deputy governor and deputy warden of the Cinque Ports from June 1713 to 1714. He was a

Lord of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being fir ...

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fa ...

from 1728 to 1731 and

Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard The Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard is a UK Government post usually held by the Government Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords. The present Captain is The 9th Earl of Courtown, who was appointed to the position ...

from 1731 to 1733. On 14 May 1730, he was created Earl of Ashburnham and Viscount St Asaph.

Family

On 21 October 1710, Ashburnham married Lady Mary Butler (died 1713), the second daughter of

James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde James FitzJames Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, (1665–1745) was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the third of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom of Ormond. Like his grandfather, the 1st Duke, he was raised as a Protes ...

. After her death, he married, on 25 July 1714, Henrietta, Dowager Countess of Anglesey and 4th Baroness Strange; they had one child, Henrietta (c.1716–1732), later 5th Baroness Strange. After his second wife's death in 1718, Ashburnham married Lady Jemima Grey (died 1731), the second daughter and coheiress of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent on 4 February 1723/4 at St James, Westminster, London. They had one child, John, styled Viscount St Asaph (1724–1812), later 2nd Earl of Ashburnham.The Ashburnham archive
is held at the East Sussex Record Office. Ashburnham died on 10 March 1737, leaving huge debts, and was buried in the family vault at Ashburnham. He was succeeded as 2nd Earl by his only son, John.

Notes

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashburnham, John Ashburnham, 1st Earl of British Life Guards officers British MPs 1710–1713 Earls of Ashburnham Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Tory MPs (pre-1834) 1687 births 1737 deaths People from Ashburnham, East Sussex