Pinckney Wilkinson (c. 1693–1784) was a British merchant and 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 1774 to 1784. Wilkinson was a wealthy London merchant. He married Mary Thurloe (or Thurlow) at Lincoln's Inn chapel on 16 December 1735. She was an heiress and he received about £10,000 out of her fortune. In 1752, he purchased the estate Polestead or Westgate, Norfolk and built Burnham Westgate Hall in the 1750s using

Matthew Brettingham Matthew Brettingham (1699 – 19 August 1769), sometimes called Matthew Brettingham the Elder, was an English architect who supervised the construction of Holkham Hall, and became one of the best-known architects of his generation, despi ...

, the Holkham estate architect. Country Life Burnham Westgate Hall
/ref> He and Mary had two daughters and a son and he retired from business when this son died in 1760. In the 1760s he held about £50,000 of Government stock, and about £6,000 of Bank stock and when his wife died in 1771 he held her property in trust. His daughter Anne married

Thomas Pitt Thomas Pitt (5 July 1653 – 28 April 1726) was an English merchant, colonial administrator and politician who served as the president of Fort St. George from 1698 to 1709. Born in Blandford Forum, Dorset, he eventually went to the Indian ...

on 29 July 1771. It was said he gave her £30,000 down, and at least as much more in expectation, and Pitt referred to "the great inheritance’ his wife brought". Wilkinson's second daughter Mary married John Smith without her parents’ consent. At the 1774 general election Wilkinson was returned by his son-in-law Pitt, who stood himself, as Member of Parliament for

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest recor ...

. They were returned again in

1780 Events January–March * January 16 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Cape St. Vincent: British Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a Spanish fleet. * February 19 – The legislature of New York votes to all ...

. Wilkinson voted with the Opposition, and apparently never spoke in Parliament. He suffered a stroke in May 1782 and was incapacitated for his last two years in parliament. Wilkinson died on 26 February 1784 aged 90. His will became a case in Chancery mainly because the Smiths had been left out of it. There were also considerable complications regarding which property was his and which that of his wife. John and Mary Smith's son, Sidney, became a distinguished admiral, serving in the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

revolutionary wars and

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Pinckney 1690s births 1784 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784