Edward Rushworth (17 October 1755 – 15 October 1817) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

clergyman on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

, and a token politician. Rushworth was the oldest son of

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Captain John Rushworth of Portsea in Hampshire. Educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and at

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

, he became a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

at Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight. In 1780 he married Catherine Holmes, daughter of Reverend Leonard Holmes (later the 1st Baron Holmes). His father-in-law was the patron of both the

parliamentary borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

s on the island. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the two boroughs on the Isle of Wight for several periods between 1780 and 1797. He was MP for Yarmouth from 1781 to 1781, for

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from 1784 to 1790, for Yarmouth in 1790, and for Yarmouth again from 1796 to 1797. He appears to have held the seats only as a placeholder, and did not take part in any parliamentary proceedings.

References

1755 births 1817 deaths People from Yarmouth, Isle of Wight 18th-century Anglican deacons People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Members of Parliament for the Isle of Wight British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 18th-century Church of England clergy {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub