John Shafto (c. 1693 – 1742), of

Whitworth Hall, County Durham Whitworth Hall which stands in Whitworth Hall Country Park, near Spennymoor, County Durham England, is a country house, formerly the home of the Shafto family and now a hotel. It is a listed building. Descendants of the Shafto family of Shafto C ...

, was a British lawyer and Tory 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 1730 to 1742. WhitworthHallDurham

Shafto was the second son of Mark Shafto of Whitworth and his wife Margaret Ingleby, daughter of Sir William Ingleby, 2nd Baronet of Ripley, Yorkshire. He matriculated at

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...

on 9 May 1710, aged 16. He was admitted at Lincolns Inn on 22 December 1711 and was called to the bar in 1718. In 1719, he succeeded his brother Robert Shafto to the family seat at Whitworth. He married Mary Jackson, daughter of Thomas Jackson of Nunnington, Yorkshire on 20 May 1731. Shafto was returned as Tory Member of Parliament for City of Durham in succession to his brother at a closely contested by-election on 26 January 1730. He was returned unopposed at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of Great Britain, House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scot ...

and again at the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

. He voted against the Government in all known occasions. Shafto died on 3 April 1742 leaving two sons and two daughters, and was buried at St Andrews Churchyard, Holborn. He was succeeded by his son Robert (

Bobby Shafto Robert Shafto (sometimes spelt Shaftoe) (circa 1732 – 24 November 1797) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1760 and 1790. He was the likely subject of a famous North East English folk song and nursery rhyme, " B ...

). He was the brother-in-law of

Sir John Eden, 2nd Baronet Sir John Eden, 2nd Baronet (Bap. 11 September 1677 – 2 May 1728) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1713 to 1727. Eden was the eldest son of Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of West Auckland and his wife Margaret L ...

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Rowntree Tryon Galleries - John Shafto of Bavington Hall and Whitworth Hall, Northumberland, holding a hunter, in a landscape, with a groom and stable beyond
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shafto, John 1690s births 1742 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747

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 ...