Edward Digby (c. 1693 – 2 October 1746) was the third son of

William Digby, 5th Baron Digby William Digby, 5th Baron Digby (20 February 1661 – 27 November 1752) was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Life Digby was a younger son of Kildare Digby, 2nd Baron Digby, and Mary Gardiner. He matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford o ...

. He represented

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

as a Tory from his brother

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, h ...

's death in 1726 until his own death in 1746. From about 1725 until his death, he lived in the manor house at Wandsworth, Surrey. At the by-election after the death of his brother Robert in 1726, Edward was returned 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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for Warwickshire. A Tory, he frequently spoke in opposition to the Walpole Ministry. During the 1730s, he spoke on several occasions against the employment of a

standing army A standing army is a permanent, often professional, army. It is composed of full-time soldiers who may be either career soldiers or conscripts. It differs from army reserves, who are enrolled for the long term, but activated only during wars o ...

and of foreign troops. He denounced

Sir Robert Sutton Sir Robert Sutton (167113 August 1746) was an English diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1722 to 1741. Early life Sutton was the elder son of Robert Sutton of Averham, Nottinghamshire, and his wife, Katherine, the da ...

after the collapse of the

Charitable Corporation The Charitable Corporation was an institution in Britain intended to provide loans at low interest to the deserving poor, including by large-scale pawnbroking. It was established by charter in 1707. Its full title was "Charitable Corporation for t ...

, supported an unsuccessful place bill to bar government officeholders from parliament in 1734, and opposed the Charitable Uses Act 1735, which imposed more stringent rules on making charitable bequests of land. He also attempted to amend the

Exemption from Impressment Act 1739 Exemption may refer to: * Tax exemption, which allows a certain amount of income or other value to be legally excluded to avoid or reduce taxation * Exemption (Catholic canon law), an exemption in the Roman Catholic Church, that is the whole or ...

to provide for the issue of a protection certificate to those rejected for impressment, but was not successful. Outside of Parliament, he, like his father, was active in the Georgia Society, and served as its first chairman. On 10 July 1729, he married Charlotte Fox (d. November 1778), the daughter of

Sir Stephen Fox Sir Stephen Fox (27 March 1627 – 28 October 1716) of Farley in Wiltshire, of Redlynch Park in Somerset, of Chiswick, Middlesex and of Whitehall, was a royal administrator and courtier to King Charles II, and a politician, who rose from ...

, by whom he had six sons and one daughter: *

Edward Digby, 6th Baron Digby Edward Digby, 6th Baron Digby (5 July 1730 – 30 November 1757), was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Digby was the son of Hon. Edward Digby, son of William Digby, 5th Baron Digby. His mother was Charlotte Fox, daughter of Sir Stephe ...

(1730–1757) *

Henry Digby, 1st Earl Digby Henry Digby, 1st Earl Digby (21 July 1731 – 25 September 1793) was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Early life Digby was the younger son of Charlotte Fox and Hon. Edward Digby, a Member of Parliament for Warwickshire from 1726 to 1746 ...

(1731–1793) *Adm. Robert Digby, RN (1732–1815) *Rev. William Digby (1733–1788) *Col. Stephen Digby (1742–1800) *Rev. Charles Digby (1743–1811), rector of Kilmington, Somerset, married Priscillia Melliar in 1775 *Charlotte Digby (died 16 June 1753) After the collapse of the Walpole ministry in 1742, Digby, writing to his friend John Ward, expressed his discontent over the lack of constructive leadership on the part of the Tories, feeling the

Duke of Argyll Duke of Argyll ( gd, Diùc Earraghàidheil) is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful ...

inferior as a leader to Sir William Wyndham. The secret committee to inquire into Walpole's conduct had, he thought, been rendered nugatory through the failure of the bill to indemnify those giving evidence before it, and he was very much discontented by the machinations which brought the next ministry to power. He died during the lifetime of his father, on 2 October 1746.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Digby, Edward 1690s births 1746 deaths British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Younger sons of barons Year of birth uncertain

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...