Edward Hughes (died 1734), of

Hertingfordbury Hertingfordbury is a small village in Hertfordshire, England, close to the county town of Hertford. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Hertingfordbury is also the name of a neighbouring civil parish, which does not contain the villa ...

, Hertfordshire, 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 1722 to 1734. Hughes was probably the son of John Hughes of Hertingfordbury, who was

High Sheriff of Hertfordshire The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire was an ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the foundation of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provi ...

in. 1718. He himself was JP and became Judge advocate general of the army in 1714. He married (with £2,000), Elizabeth Harrison, daughter of Richard Harrison of

Balls Park Balls Park in Hertford is a Grade I Listed mid-17th-century house. The estate and house are set in over 63 acres of parkland which is listed Grade II on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. The estat ...

, Hertfordshire on 26 November 1713. His wife's family were influential and wealthy and his brothers-in-law

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

and

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

were also MPs. She died on 15 November 1714 and was commemorated in a poem by

John Hughes John Hughes may refer to: Arts and Entertainment Literature *John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet *John Hughes (1790–1857), English author *John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet *John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...

. Hughes was elected as Member of Parliament for

Saltash Saltash () is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Cornwall". Saltash’s landmarks ...

on the Admiralty interest in a contest at the 1722 general election. Although it was reported that ‘at Saltash they don’t relish Mr. Hughes, but make no difficulty of choosing a better man’, he was returned again unopposed at the 1727 general election. He voted with the Administration except in the divisions on the excise and spoke for the Administration in a debate of 12 February 1730 on Dunkirk, and on 18 February in support of a petition from the

Royal African Company The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English trading company established in 1660 by the House of Stuart and City of London merchants to trade along the West African coast. It was overseen by the Duke of York, the brother of Charles II of Eng ...

for a subsidy to maintain its forts and settlements. He was a member of the gaols committee in the year 1728 to 1729. In 1732, a bill enabling the Charitable Corporation to raise new capital was before Parliament, and it was alleged that Hughes had complained to the directors of the corporation that he was ‘ill used by them’, in being given no shares for supporting the bill. Hughes died in debt on 26 January 1734, leaving two sons and a daughter. His widow renounced the executorship of his will to his principal creditor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Edward 1734 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734