Sir Edward Knatchbull, 9th Baronet, (20 December 1781 – 24 May 1849) was a British

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 ...

politician. He held office under

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

Paymaster of the Forces The Paymaster of the Forces was a position in the British government. The office was established in 1661, one year after the Restoration of the Monarchy to King Charles II, and was responsible for part of the financing of the British Army, in ...

between 1834 and 1835 and as

Paymaster-General His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The incumbent Paymaster General is Jeremy Quin MP. History The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the posit ...

between 1841 and 1845.

Background and education

Knatchbull was the son of Sir Edward Knatchbull, 8th Baronet, and Mary, daughter and heiress of William Western Hugessen, of

Provender House Provender is an English country house in Norton near Faversham in the English county of Kent. It is privately owned but open for tours on certain days, and is an event venue. Location The house is reached along Provender Lane, Norton, a village i ...

in Norton, Kent, and was educated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...

and matriculated in 1800. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1802 and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincol ...

in 1803. In 1819 he succeeded in the baronetcy on the death of his father.

Political career

Knatchbull was elected as a

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 ...

(MP) for

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

at a by-election in November 1819, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his father. He held the seat until the 1831 general election, which he did not contest. The

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

split the Kent county constituency into Eastern and Western divisions, and at the 1831 general election Knatchbull was elected as one of the two MPs for the new Eastern division of Kent. He held that seat until his

resignation Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

in early 1845 by taking the

Chiltern Hundreds The Chiltern Hundreds is an ancient administrative area in Buckinghamshire, England, composed of three " hundreds" and lying partially within the Chiltern Hills. "Taking the Chiltern Hundreds" refers to one of the legal fictions used to effect ...

. In 1829 he became one of the leaders of the " Ultra-Tories" who were opposed to Catholic emancipation in Ireland. 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 ...

in 1834, he served under

between 1834 and 1835 and as

between 1841 and 1845.

Family

Knatchbull married twice. His first wife was Annabella Christiana Honywood, daughter of Sir John Honywood, 4th Baronet. They married on 25 August 1806 and had six children: *Mary Louisa Knatchbull (b. 1808) *Eleanor Grace Knatchbull (d. 1913) *Beatrice Joanna Knatchbull (d. 1932) (unsure as to accuracy of this date, this would make Beatrice approximately 122 years old when she died.) *Mary Dorothea Knatchbull (d. 1838) *Sir Norton Joseph Knatchbull, 10th Baronet (1808–1868) *(child, d. 1818) Annabella died in childbirth in 1814 and on 24 October 1820, Knatchbull married secondly Fanny Catherine Knight, daughter of Edward Knight (né Edward Austen, the brother of English novelist

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

). They had nine children, including: * Edward Hugessen Knatchbull-Hugessen, 1st Baron Brabourne (1829–1893) *Reverend Reginald Bridges Knatchbull-Hugessen (b. 1831) * Herbert Thomas Knatchbull-Hugessen (b. 1835) * William Western Knatchbull-Hugessen (1837–1864) Knatchbull died in May 1849, aged 67, at the family's Mersham Hatch estate in Kent, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son from his first marriage, Norton. Lady Knatchbull died in December 1882.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knatchbull, Edward, 9th Baronet 1781 births 1849 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of England Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Paymasters of the Forces People from Mersham United Kingdom Paymasters General UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 Members of Lincoln's Inn Ultra-Tory MPs