Robert Pigott (1665–1746), of Chetwynd, Shropshire and Chesterton, Huntingdonshire, was an English landowner and Whig 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 ...

between 1713 and 1741.

Early life

Pigott was baptized on 24 October 1665, the eldest son of Walter Pigott of Chetwynd and his second wife Anne Dryden, daughter of Sir John Dryden, 2nd Baronet of Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire. He succeeded his father at Chetwynd in 1669. He matriculated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

on 5 December 1681, aged 16, and was admitted at

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1683. By a marriage settlement dated 15 May 1695, he married Frances Ward, daughter of Hon. William Ward of Willingsworth Hall, Sedgeley, Staffordshire.

Career

Pigott served as

High Sheriff of Shropshire This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of Shropshire The high sheriff, sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the high sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of t ...

for the year 1696 to 1697, and also became a deputy-lieutenant for Shropshire. He succeeded to the Huntingdonshire estates of his uncles

John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...

in 1708 and Erasmus Dryden at Chesterton in 1710. With his landed wealth, he became High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire for the year 1709 to 1710 and a suitable candidate for Parliament. He was returned at the top of the poll as Whig Member of Parliament for

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

at the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election was held on 22 August 1713 to 12 November 1713, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 R ...

. He was a fairly inactive Member, but voted on 18 March 1714 against the expulsion of Richard Steele. Pigott was returned unopposed at the

1715 British general election The 1715 British general election was held on 22 January 1715 to 9 March 1715, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliam ...

, voting for the Administration on all recorded occasions in that Parliament. He did not stand in

1722 Events January–March * January 27 – Daniel Defoe's novel '' Moll Flanders'' is published anonymously in London. * February 10 – The Battle of Cape Lopez begins off of the coast of West Africa (and present-day Gabon), ...

1727 Events January–March * January 1 – (December 21, 1726 O.S.) Spain's ambassador to Great Britain demands that the British return Gibraltar after accusing Britain of violating the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Britain ...

, but was returned again at a contested by-election on 7 February 1730. Although he was absent on the

Excise Bill The Excise Bill of 1733 was a proposal by the British government of Robert Walpole to impose an excise tax on a variety of products. This would have allowed Excise officers to search private dwellings to look for contraband untaxed goods. The per ...

in 1733, he voted with the Government against the bill for repealing the Septennial Act in 1734. 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 ...

, with the support of the 2nd Duke of Manchester. He voted with the Government for the Spanish convention in 1739, and was absent for the place bill in 1740. He did not stand 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 ...

Death and legacy

Pigott died in December 1746, leaving five sons and two surviving daughters and was buried at Chetwynd. He left estates in five counties – Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire, Shropshire and Warwickshire – and a personal wealth of well over £17,000. His eldest son, appears to have been a High Tory and contested Shrewsbury unsuccessfully on the Tory interest in 1747. It was said that he visited the Pretender in Rome in 1720, and came away with a portrait. The estates descended in the main line and were sold by his grandson and namesake, Robert Pigott a radical in politics and manners, who went to live in France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pigott, Robert 1665 births 1746 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 High sheriffs of Shropshire