Robert Child (February 1739 – 28 July 1782) was an English banker and politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wells from 1765 until his death.

Career

He was the second surviving son of Samuel Child MP, and younger brother of Francis Child. In 1763, he succeeded his brother as nominal head of the family's bank, Child & Co., bringing him an annual income of over £30,000 (£ in ). He also inherited the estate of

Osterley Park Osterley Park is a Georgian era, Georgian country estate in west London, which straddles the London boroughs of London Borough of Ealing, Ealing and London Borough of Hounslow, Hounslow. Originally dating from the 1570s, the estate contains a ...

in Middlesex, where he continued his brother's project of remodelling the house to the designs of

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

. Child contested

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

at a by-election in 1764, but withdrew due to ill-health. The following year he contested Wells, and after a bitterly fought campaign, two polls were held; one returned Child, the other his rival

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politic ...

, a local grocer's son who grown rich as an army commissary in Germany during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. In early 1766 Child was awarded the seat on

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...

. He appears never to have spoken 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 ...

, and voted largely with the opposition despite his bank's significant business with the government.

Personal life and family

In October 1763, Child married Sarah Jodrell, daughter of Gilbert Jodrell of Ankerwyke, Buckinghamshire. They had only one child, a daughter Sarah Anne (born 1764), who in May 1782 eloped to

Gretna Green Gretna Green is a parish in the southern Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, close to the town of Gretna, Scotland, Gretna, on the Scottish side of the English-Scottish border. It is accessed from the A74( ...

to marry the 10th Earl of Westmorland. Her father abhorred the Earl, and pursued the couple until one of his horses was shot by Westmorland's men. Her father had approved the marriage before his death in July that year, but disinherited her to prevent his fortune falling into Westmorland's hands. Instead, his wife Sarah inherited a life interest in the bank, where she remained a senior partner until her death in 1793. She remarried in 1791, to

Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Baron Ducie Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Baron Ducie (28 March 1739 – 20 August 1808) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain, British House of Commons representing the constituency of Lancaster (UK Parlia ...

, but excluded him from the running of the bank. After her death, her husband's will settled his estate on the second surviving son or eldest daughter of Sarah Anne. However, only one of Child's grandsons survived, so the estate — including Osterley Park and the senior partnership in the bank — passed to Sarah Sophia Fane, his eldest granddaughter. She married

George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, GCH, PC (19 August 1773 – 3 October 1859), previously George Villiers and styled Viscount Villiers until 1805, was a British courtier and Conservative politician from the Villiers family. He adde ...

, but like her grandmother she ran the bank without admitting her husband to the partnership. Her wealth was so great that on her marriage in 1805 she gave £20,000 (£ in ) each to her father, her brother and two sisters, but still had an annual income from her inheritance of over £60,000 (£ in ).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Child, Robert 1739 births 1782 deaths Robert 2 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 English bankers Politicians from the London Borough of Hounslow 18th-century English businesspeople