Clement Tudway (1734–1815) was a British lawyer 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 ...

for 54 years from 1761 to 1815, being Father of the House from 1806. Tudway was the eldest son of Charles Tudway and his wife Hannah. He matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford in 1751. In 1752 he entered Middle Temple 1752 and was called to the bar in 1759. He married Elizabeth Hill, daughter of Sir Rowland Hill, 1st Baronet on 7 June 1762. In 1770, he succeeded his father. He became recorder of Wells and was

Mayor of Wells Mayor of Wells, Somerset, England: *1590: Leonard Crosse *1592: William Watkin *15931594: James Godwyn *1598: John Ayshe *1608: John Ayshe *16131614: James Godwyn *17501751 John Dorset Long *17511752 Thomas Strode *17521753 Charles Tudway *17 ...

ten times. Tudway was returned unopposed as

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 Wells on his father's interest at the 1761 general election. At the 1768 general election there was a contest at Wells, but he topped the poll because his father could command enough votes. He was also returned as MP for

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...

as a Government candidate at the 1774 general election but decided to sit for Wells where he was returned unopposed. By 1806 he was the longest standing MP in the House, but by this time his absences though ill-health were becoming frequent. Tudway died while still an MP on 7 July 1815. He and his wife Elizabeth had no children.

References

1734 births 1815 deaths People from Somerset Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 {{England-UK-MP-stub