John Luther (c. 1739–1786) was an English politician.

Life

The son of Richard Luther of

Ongar, Essex Ongar is a civil parish in the Epping Forest District in Essex, England. Other than the town of Chipping Ongar it also includes Greensted, Greensted Green, Marden Ash and Shelley. The local council of the parish is Ongar Town Council. Locat ...

, he was educated at

Newcome's School Newcome's School was a fashionable boys' school in Hackney, then to the east of London, founded in the early 18th century. A number of prominent Whig families sent their sons there. The school closed in 1815, and the buildings were gutted in 18 ...

in Hackney, and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he matriculated in 1756, graduating B.A. and M.A. in 1761. He had entered 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 ...

to study law in 1755. He was elected a member of the

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union 1707, Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a ...

for

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

from 13 December 1763 to 1784. A Whig, he left his wife in 1764 and went to Paris at the time when the government was pursuing

John Wilkes John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English Radicalism (historical), radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlese ...

. Richard Watson persuaded him to return and be reconciled with his wife and family. The family lived at Great Myles house in Kelvedon Hatch, near Ongar, Essex.

Family

On 20 January 1762 Luther had obtained a licence to marry Levina Alexander Bennet,Ancestry.com. London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1597-1921, database on-line, Provo, UT, USA. (subscription required) Accessed 15 December 2015 daughter of Bennet Alexander Bennet (1702–1745) and his wife Mary Ash (born 1719), who married again in 1747 to Richard Bull. Levina's brother was Richard Henry Alexander Bennet. His nephew Francis Fane of Spettisbury (1752–1813), was MP for

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis ( ) is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and ...

and

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

and inherited Luther's Ongar estate. Luther left an estate at Petworth, Sussex to Bishop Watson.

References

1786 deaths People educated at Newcome's School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 Year of birth uncertain {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub