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Robert Benson, 1st Baron Bingley, (c. 16769 April 1731), of Red Hall, near Wakefield, Bramham Hall, Yorkshire and Queen Street, Westminster was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
Tory politician who sat in the
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
and
British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 65 ...
from 1702 until 1713 when he was raised to the peerage as
Baron Bingley Baron Bingley is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The first creation came in 1713 in the Peerage of Great Britain, when the former Chancel ...
and sat in the House of Lords. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1711 to 1713.


Life

Robert Benson was born in
Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
, the son of Robert Benson of Wrenthorpe. He went to school in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
before studying at
Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...
. He served as an alderman of the city of York and was elected
Lord Mayor of York The Lord Mayor of York is the chairman of City of York Council, first citizen and civic head of York. The appointment is made by the council each year in May, at the same time appointing a sheriff, the city's other civic head. York's lord mayor ...
for 1707. He was elected
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
Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24, ...
in
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...
from 1702 to 1705, then becoming MP for
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
from 1705 to 1713. In 1711, he was sworn of the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...
and became
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Ch ...
until 1713. He was a Director of the
South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...
from July 1711 to February 1715. In 1713 he was ennobled as Baron Bingley, and became the
British ambassador to Spain The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Spain is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in the Kingdom of Spain, and in charge of the UK's diplomatic mission in Spain. The official title is His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador ...
. Benson founded the stately home of
Bramham Park Bramham Park is a Grade I listed 18th-century country house in Bramham, between Leeds and Wetherby, in West Yorkshire, England. The house, constructed of magnesian limestone ashlar with stone slate roofs in a classical style, is built to a li ...
, near Wetherby, Yorkshire. When he died in 1731 he was buried in
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
and the title
Baron Bingley Baron Bingley is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The first creation came in 1713 in the Peerage of Great Britain, when the former Chancel ...
became extinct, although it was later re-created for his son-in-law. He had married Elizabeth, the daughter of Hon. Heneage Finch, and had a son (who predeceased him) and two daughters (one illegitimate). It has often been suggested that Bingley was also the real father of the British soldier, dramatist and politician
John Burgoyne General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several bat ...
, whose debts he cancelled in his will. The residue of his estate, including Bramham Park, went to his daughter Harriet who had married
George Fox George Fox (July 1624 – 13 January 1691) was an English Dissenter, who was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends. The son of a Leicestershire weaver, he lived in times of social upheaval and ...
.


Notes


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bingley, Robert Benson, 1st Baron 1670s births 1731 deaths Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Lord Mayors of York Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain Peers of Great Britain created by Queen Anne Chancellors of the Exchequer of Great Britain Diplomatic peers Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Treasurers of the Household British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 Ambassadors of Great Britain to Spain English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707