Charles Van (died 1778) was a British politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1772 to 1778. Van was the eldest son of Charles Van, of

Llanwern Llanwern is a village and community in the eastern part of the city of Newport, South East Wales. The name may be translated as "the church among the grove of the alders". Location and populace Llanwern is bounded by the M4 and Langstone t ...

, and his second wife Elizabeth Samson of Henbury, near Bristol. He married Catherine Morgan, daughter of Thomas Morgan in September 1754. Her father and three brothers were all MPs. He succeeded his father on 6 January 1755. In 1760 he built a new house at Llanwern Park. Following his marriage into the Morgan family, Van stood for Parliament at

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

in a by-election in 1756, but was heavily defeated. He stood for

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

at a by-election in 1765, but when the Morgan family gave their interest to his opponent, he withdrew. He was eventually returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for

Brecon Brecon (; ; ), 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 county town of Breck ...

at a by-election on 31 January 1772. He was also returned unopposed in

1774 Events January–March * January 21 – Mustafa III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I. * January 27 ** An angry crowd in Boston, Massachusetts seizes, tars, and feathers British customs ...

. He was strongly against the American colonists and was apparently an amusing speaker in Parliament. Van died on 3 April 1778. His daughter Catherine married Sir Robert Salusbury, 1st Baronet and inherited his estate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van, Charles 1778 deaths British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies