John Jolliffe (bapt. 31 July 1696''England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975'' – 31 January 1771) was an English politician. He established his family's political control of the

pocket borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act of 1832, which had a very small electo ...

of borough of Petersfield in Hampshire, and sat for the town 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 ...

for a total of 30 years.

Early life and family

Jolliffe was the third son of Benjamin Jolliffe of Cofton Hall, Worcestershire. His mother, Mary, was a daughter of the London merchant John Jolliffe, and a sister of Sir William Jolliffe. He was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and at

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

then at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

and the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

. In March 1731 he married Catherine Michell, daughter and heir of Robert Michell, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Petersfield. Catherine died in June 1731, and in 1744 Jolliffe married Mary, daughter and co-heir of

Samuel Holden Samuel Holden (1675–1740) was an English merchant, politician, and nonconformist activist. Life The son of Joseph Holden by his second wife Priscilla Watt, he was employed when still young by the Russia Company at Riga. He became a successful ...

(a former MP for East Looe). They had 3 sons and 1 daughter: *

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

(1745–1802), who was MP for Petersfield from 1768 to 1802 * Thomas Samuel (1746–1824), MP for Petersfield 1780–87 * Charles, who joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and was killed at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

* Mary Anne

Career

From Catherine he inherited land in the town of

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own Petersfield railway station, railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rai ...

in Hampshire, which brought control of one of the borough's two parliamentary seats. He used that to return his uncle Sir William Jolliffe as MP in 1734, and then bought the manor of Petersfield from

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, is known for ...

, which gave him control of the second seat. He sat as MP for Petersfield from 1741 to 1754, and again from 1761 to 1768. From 1738 to 1751 he was Receiver-General of the Duchy of Lancaster. In 1771 he donated a house and garden to be used as a poor house in Petersfield.

References

1696 births 1771 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1761–1768 People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of University College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Inner Temple

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

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