Charles Francis Norton (1807 – 1835) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament for

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

. Norton was also a Captain of 52nd Light Infantry. Through his wife Maria Louisa, née Campbell, he was son-in-law of Sir Colin Campbell; he was also brother-in-law of writer

Caroline Norton Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton, Lady Stirling-Maxwell (''née'' Sheridan; 22 March 1808 – 15 June 1877) was an active English social reformer and author.Perkin, pp. 26–28. She left her husband, who was accused by many of coercive behaviour, ...

Early life

He was the son of

Fletcher Norton Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, Privy Council of Great Britain, PC (23 June 1716 – 1 January 1789) was an England, English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1756 to 1782 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron ...

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(1744–1820) and his wife, Caroline Elizabeth Balmain. His grandfather was Hon.

. His brother was Hon.

Fletcher Norton, 3rd Baron Grantley Baron Grantley, of Markenfield Hall, Markenfield, in the County of York is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created on 9 April 1782 for Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, Sir Fletcher Norton, Attorney General for England and Wal ...

. While Charles Francis Norton was a Whig, he had a brother the Hon.

George Chapple Norton George Chapple Norton (31 August 1800 – 24 February 1875) was a Tory Member of Parliament for Guildford from 1826 to 1830. He was educated at Winchester College. He died on 24 February 1875 at Wonersh. Family He was born in Wakefield the son ...

who was a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

and held office in Guildford from 1826 to 1830. Charles Francis Norton was brought up in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, and joined the army after receiving a one seventh share of the residue of his father's estate (valued at £7,438). his regiment was stationed in Nova Scotia during the period of his service (1823–1845).

Political career

Charles Francis Norton briefly entered politics. He ran as a candidate for Guildford in the general election of 1831 and emerged victorious. He held office from 1831 to 1832, losing the re-election to his conservative rival.

Actions during term

* Norton campaigned as a supporter of the grey ministry's reform bill and was returned with another reformer after a four-cornered contest. * He divided for the second reading of the reintroduced reform bill, 6 July, and steadily for its details, except the inclusion of Guildford in schedule B, which he opposed by vote and in his only recorded speech, 29 July 1831. He argued that the town's population was ‘respectable and increasing’ and supported its petition to retain two Members by expanding the boundary, the case for which he regarded as unanswerable. He voted for the bill's passage, 21 Sept., the second reading of the Scottish bill, 23 Sept., and Lord Ebrington's confidence motion, 10 Oct. * He was in the minority for O’Connell's motion to swear in the 11 members of the Dublin election committee, 29 July, but voted with ministers to prosecute only those found guilty of bribery, 23 Aug. * On 5 Nov. he was granted the precedence afforded to the younger sons of peers by letter patent. He divided for the second reading of the revised reform bill (by which Guildford kept both its Members), 17 Dec. * 1831, steadily for its details and for the third reading, 22 Mar. 1832. He voted for the address asking the king to appoint only ministers committed to carrying an unimpaired measure, 10 May, and against the Conservative amendment for increased Scottish county representation, 1 June. * He voted against government on the Russian-Dutch loan, 26 Jan., was absent from the division on this issue 12 July, but voted with ministers, 16 July. * He divided with them on relations with Portugal, 9 Feb. 1832. He ran again for Guildford at the general election after his term, but was defeated by one of his Conservative rivals from the previous election.

Later life

Charles Francis Norton returned to an active military career and became assistant military secretary to his father-in-law, following the latter's appointment as governor of Nova Scotia (1834), and it was there that he died suddenly in October 1835, ‘in consequence of drinking cold water, whilst over-heated in the pursuit of moose deer’. He is buried in the

Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia) The Old Burying Ground (also known as St. Paul's Church (Halifax), St. Paul's Church Cemetery) is a historic cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Barrington Street and Spring Garden Road in Downtown Halif ...

. Maria Louisa subsequently married

Edmund Phipps Hon. Edmund Phipps (7 December 1808 – 28 October 1857) was a lawyer and author. Career Phipps was the third son of Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave and graduated from Trinity College, Oxford in 1828. In 1832 he was called to the bar at th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Charles Francis 1807 births 1835 deaths Politics of Guildford UK MPs 1831–1832 Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies