John Langston ( 1758 – 18 February 1812) was an English

merchant banker A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodi ...

and politician. He sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain and its successor the House of Commons of the United Kingdom for most of the years between 1784 and 1807.

Early life and family

Langston was the oldest son of James Langston and his wife Sarah, of

Sarsden House Sarsden is a village and civil parish about south of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The 2001 Census recorded the parish population as 83. Since 2012 Sarsden has been part of the Churchill and Sarsden joint parish council area, sharing a paris ...

in Oxfordshire. In 1784 he married Sarah Goddard, daughter of John Goddard of

Woodford Hall Woodford Hall was a large house in Woodford, Essex, with 50 acres of land adjacent to Epping Forest. In 1707, Sir Richard Child sold the Hall to Christopher Crowe, who sold it to William Hunt in 1728, having obtained a private Act of Parliame ...

, Essex. They had one son (

James Langston James Haughton Langston (25 May 1796 – 19 October 1863) was a British landowner and Member of Parliament. Life He was the son of John Langston of Sarsden House, Oxfordshire, and his wife, Sarah. He was educated at Eton College (1811). He ma ...

) and four daughters.

Inheritance

Langston was probably educated at Eton. He had a generous inheritance from his father, who died in 1795. As well as being a wine merchant in London,

was a

deputy governor of the Bank of England A Deputy Governor of the Bank of England is the holder of one of a small number of senior positions at the Bank of England, reporting directly to the Governor. According to the original charter of 27 July 1694 the Bank's affairs would be supervis ...

and founder of the

merchant bank A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodi ...

of Langston, Towgood and Amory. John inherited a partnership in the bank, shares in the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, the Sarsden and Churchill estates in Oxfordshire, and £300,000 (equivalent to £ in ).

Career

Langston was a director of the

Sun Fire Office Sun Alliance Group plc was a large insurance business with its main offices in the City of London and later Horsham. It was created in 1959 by the merger of Sun Insurance, founded in 1710, and Alliance Assurance founded in 1824. In 1996 Sun Allia ...

from 1794 until his death. He aimed to buy himself a place in Parliament, but never found a

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinat ...

. At the 1784 election he was returned after a contest as a

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 ...

(MP) for

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

, an open borough with a reputation for venality where the government backed his candidacy. At the next election, in 1790, he contested

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

in the interest of the 4th Earl Poulett. The Earl of Egmont had funded his son Viscount Perceval to contest the seat, but Langston and Poulett's brother Vere won by a comfortable margin. Having joined the opposition, Langston was no longer acceptable to Poulett, so he turned instead to

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National P ...

, where opposition was mounting to the "overbearing conduct" of the borough's patron John Fownes Luttrell, whose Dunster Castle-based family had dominated the borough for most of the period since its 16th-century enfranchisement. Langston bought some building land in Alcombe, within the borough, from a Quaker William Davis who had advertised for a wealthy challenger. There he rapidly built some houses to register voters, and nominated himself and his wife's brother-in-law Admiral Charles Morice Pole. At the election in 1796 John Fownes Lutrell held his own seat, but Langston defeated his brother Thomas Fownes Luttrell. Luttrell rallied his support by the next election in 1802, and defeated Langston, whose illegal

treating :''This is an article about treating in the sense of provision of food, drink, and refreshments for a person or group of people. For treating in the context of social dating, see treating (dating).'' Treating is the act of serving food, drink, and ...

of voters after the arrival of the

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, ...

, had not been enough to win. An

election petition An election petition refers to the procedure for challenging the result of a Parliamentary election. Outcomes When a petition is lodged against an election return, there are 4 possible outcomes: # The election is declared void. The result is ...

was prepared, but after a period of negotiations, Langston sold all his Minehead interests to Fownes Luttrell. Out of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

, Langston was Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1804–05. He was returned to the Commons in March 1806 for the Irish

rotten 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 1832, which had a very small electorate ...

of Portarlington, whose patron the 2nd Earl of Portarlington accommodated Langston as a favour to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rule ...

. At the general election in 1806, Langston returned to Bridgwater, where he won a contested election with Vere Poulett again returned as his running-mate. However, by 1807 the earl had disowned his brother's politics, and Langston withdrew. Langston never returned to Parliament, and died in 1812, aged about 54.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langston, John Year of birth uncertain 1758 births 1812 deaths People from West Oxfordshire District People educated at Eton College English investment bankers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Portarlington High Sheriffs of Oxfordshire