Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip

Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, PC, FRS (15 December 1713 – 2 February 1802) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons for 53 years from 1741 to 1794 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Mendip. He held a number of political offices, including briefly serving as Secretary for the Colonies in 1782 during the American War of Independence.


The Lord Mendip

Secretary of State for the Colonies
In office
February 1782  8 March 1782
MonarchGeorge III
Prime MinisterLord North
Preceded byLord George Germain
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Personal details
Born(1713-12-15)15 December 1713
England
Died2 February 1802(1802-02-02) (aged 88)
England
NationalityBritish

Background

Ellis was the second but only surviving son of the Most Reverend Welbore Ellis, Bishop of Kildare and Bishop of Meath. He was educated at Westminster School from 1727 to 1732 and then entered Christ Church, Oxford.

Political career

In 1741, he was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Cricklade, then moved to Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (17471761), Aylesbury (17611768), Petersfield (17681774), Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (17741790) and Petersfield (17911794).[1]

In 1762, he succeeded Charles Townshend as Secretary at War, and in 1763, he proposed the appropriation of twenty army regiments to the colonies of America. In Parliament, with many others, he opposed the reception of papers from the American Continental Congress. He became Treasurer of the Navy on 1777, then succeeded to the Colonial Secretaryship in 1782, which he held for a matter of months, before the American colonies were lost. In 1784, he became the longest-serving member of the House of Commons (having served for 43 years noncontinuously), becoming the honorary Father of the House.

He was created Baron Mendip, of Mendip in the County of Somerset, in 1794 in recognition of his governmental service. The peerage was created with remainder to the three eldest sons of his sister Anne by her husband Henry Agar, of Gowran and Gowran Castle.

Personal life

In 1738 he inherited a large fortune from his uncle, John Ellis and built Clifden House in Brentford.

He married firstly in 1747 Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of Sir William Stanhope and secondly in 1765 Anne, the daughter of George Stanley of Paultons, Hampshire. Ellis nevertheless died childless in February 1802, aged 88, and was succeeded in the barony according to the special remainder by his great-nephew, Henry Welbore Agar, 2nd Viscount Clifden, who assumed the surname of Ellis two years later.

See also

References

  1. "ELLIS, Welbore (1713-1802), of Tylney Hall, Hants". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Sir Thomas Reade, Bt
Charles Gore
Member of Parliament for Cricklade
17411747
With: Sir Thomas Reade, Bt
Succeeded by
John Gore
William Rawlinson Earle
Preceded by
John Tucker
Joseph Damer
John Raymond
James Steuart
Member of Parliament for Weymouth
and Melcombe Regis

17471761
With: Richard Plumer 174751
George Dodington 174754
Edward Hungate Beaghan 174754
Lord George Cavendish 175154
Lord John Cavendish 175461
George Dodington 175461
John Tucker 175461
Succeeded by
John Tucker
Sir Francis Dashwood, Bt
John Olmius
Richard Glover
Preceded by
John Willes
John Wilkes
Member of Parliament for Aylesbury
17611768
With: John Wilkes 176164
Anthony Bacon 176468
Succeeded by
Anthony Bacon
John Durand
Preceded by
John Jolliffe
Richard Croftes
Member of Parliament for Petersfield
17681774
With: William Joliffe
Succeeded by
William Joliffe
Sir Abraham Hume, Bt
Preceded by
John Tucker
The Lord Waltham
Sir Charles Davers, Bt
Jeremiah Dyson
Member of Parliament for Weymouth
and Melcombe Regis

17741790
With: John Tucker 177478
William Chaffin Grove 177481
John Purling 177490
Gabriel Steward 177880, 178016 & 178890
Warren Lisle 1780
William Richard Rumbold 178184
Sir Thomas Rumbold, Bt 178490
George Jackson 178688
Succeeded by
Sir James Pulteney
Richard Johnstone
Andrew Stuart
Thomas Jones
Preceded by
William Joliffe
Marquess of Titchfield
Member of Parliament for Petersfield
17911795
With: William Joliffe
Succeeded by
William Joliffe
Charles Greville
Political offices
Preceded by
Charles Townshend
Secretary at War
17621765
Succeeded by
The Viscount Barrington
Preceded by
Sir Gilbert Elliot, Bt
Treasurer of the Navy
17771782
Succeeded by
Isaac Barré
Preceded by
The Lord George Germain
Secretary of State for the Colonies
1782
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Charles Frederick
Father of the House
17841790
Succeeded by
William Drake
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by
(new creation)
Baron Mendip
17941802
Succeeded by
Henry Welbore Ellis
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