Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 3rd Baronet, of Isell

Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 3rd Baronet of Isell FRS (1697 – 13 July 1737),^[1] was a British politician. He was educated Queen's College, Oxford, graduating in 1713; and was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1715. He was Groom of the Bedchamber to George I from 1720 to 1725; and was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society in 1718. He was one of the Lawson Baronets, the son and heir of Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 2nd Baronet, of Isell.^[2]

Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 3rd Baronet was MP for Boroughbridge 1718–1722 and Cockermouth 1722–1737.^[3] He married Elizabeth Lucy, daughter of the Hon. Henry Mordaunt MP and niece of the Earl of Peterborough. The marriage produced two sons Wilfrid and Mordaunt and two daughters Elizabeth and Charlotte. In 1717, Lawson stood for the Cockermouth constituency after Nicholas Lechmere accepted a ministerial position and accordingly resigned the seat. However, the returning officer made a double return, returning both Lord Percy Seymour and Sir Wilfrid Lawson. Both parties immediately petitioned against the result; Lord Percy, on the grounds that Lawson was a minor, (not having attained the age of 21), while Lawson based his petitioned on the grounds of bribery. Although both petitions were withdrawn, Sir Wilfrid did admit the charge and consequently Lord Percy took the seat. Historical parliamentary records record two of Lawson’s House of Commons speeches suggesting that he carried some influence. On the opening of Parliament in 1732, he severely criticized the address from the throne; commenting mainly on foreign affairs and treaties made with foreign nations by the Government. In 1733, he moved for papers relative to the Spanish depredations, and carried his motion without a division, notwithstanding serious criticism from the then Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole.^[4] Upon his death at Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1737 Lawso gave the vicar of Isel church the tithes of Blindcrake, Sunderland, Isel Old-Park and Isel Gate in lieu of the tithes of Isel demesne.^[5] He was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 4th Baronet (1731-39). However, he died in infancy. He was succeeded by his brother Sir Mordaunt Lawson, 5th Baronet (1735-43) who also died in infancy; so ending the supremacy of the Isel Lawson’s. The eldest daughter Elizabeth, who died in 1759, also deserves an historical footnote. She became a Maid of Honour to the Princess of Wales and although courted by General James Wolfe, hero of Quebec, she refused his hand of marriage.^[6]

References

• Leigh Rayment's List of Baronets

Bibliography