The Lord Redesdale | |
|---|---|
 Sir John Mitford bySir Thomas Lawrence | |
| Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom | |
| In office 11 February 1801 – 9 February 1802 | |
| Monarch | George III |
| Prime Minister | William Pitt Henry Addington |
| Preceded by | Henry Addington |
| Succeeded by | Charles Abbot |
| Lord High Chancellor of Ireland | |
| In office 1802–1806 | |
| Monarch | George III |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Clare |
| Succeeded by | George Ponsonby |
| Member of theHouse of Lords | |
Lord Temporal | |
| In office 13 February 1802 – 16 January 1830 | |
| Preceded by | Peerage created |
| Succeeded by | The 2nd Baron Redesdale |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Mitford (1748-08-18)18 August 1748 London, England |
| Died | 16 January 1830(1830-01-16) (aged 81) Batsford Park,Gloucestershire, England |
| Spouse | |
John Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale (18 August 1748 – 16 January 1830), known asSir John Mitford between 1793 and 1802, was an English lawyer and politician. He wasSpeaker of the House of Commons between 1801 and 1802 andLord Chancellor of Ireland between 1802 and 1806.
Born in London, Mitford was the younger son of John Mitford (died 1761) ofExbury, Hampshire,[1][2] and Philadelphia, daughter of Willey Reveley of Newton Underwood, Northumberland.[2] The historianWilliam Mitford was his elder brother. He was educated atCheam School and studied law at theInner Temple from 1772, beingcalled to the bar in 1777.[3]
Having become a barrister of theInner Temple in 1777,[2] Mitford wroteA Treatise on the Pleadings in Suits in theCourt of Chancery by English Bill, a work reprinted several times in England, Ireland, and America.[4] He was made aKing's Counsel in 1789.[5]
In 1788, he became Member of Parliament for theborough ofBere Alston in Devon,[1][6] and in 1791 he successfully introduced a bill for the relief ofRoman Catholics, despite being himself a committedAnglican.[4] In 1793 he succeededSir John Scott asSolicitor-General for England[7] (receiving the customaryknighthood at the same time), becomingAttorney General six years later,[1] when he was returned to parliament as member forEast Looe in Cornwall.[1][8]
In 1794, he was elected aFellow of the Royal Society.[9]
In February 1801, Mitford was chosenSpeaker of the House of Commons[1] and sworn of thePrivy Council.[10] Exactly a year later, he was appointedLord Chancellor of Ireland[11] and raised to the peerage as Baron Redesdale, of Redesdale in the County of Northumberland.[11] Being an outspoken opponent ofCatholic Emancipation, Redesdale was unpopular in Ireland. He had little support from his own colleagues: he was the subject of scurrilous attacks by "Juverna", who was later discovered to be a senior judge,Robert Johnson, who was convicted ofseditious libel and forced to resign from the Bench as a result. In February 1806, Redesdale was dismissed on the formation of theMinistry of All the Talents.[4]
Although Lord Redesdale declined to return to official life, he was an active member of theHouse of Lords on its political and its judicial sides. In 1813, he secured the passing of acts for the relief of insolvent debtors, and became an opponent of the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts and other popular measures of reform.[12][4]
Lord Redesdale married Lady Frances Perceval, daughter ofthe 2nd Earl of Egmont, anAnglo-Irish peer, and sister of Prime MinisterSpencer Perceval, in 1803.[1] He took the additional name of Freeman in 1809 by royal licence on succeeding to the estates of his relativeThomas Edwards-Freeman (the heir of a previous Lord Chancellor of Ireland,Richard Freeman).[13] Lady Redesdale died in August 1817.[1] Lord Redesdale survived her by thirteen years and died atBatsford Park, near Moreton-in-the-Marsh,Gloucestershire,[2] in January 1830, aged 81. He was succeeded in the barony by his only son,John, who was createdEarl of Redesdale in 1877.[1]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Redesdale, John Freeman-Mitford, Baron".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 968.
Media related toJohn Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale at Wikimedia Commons| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBere Alston 1788–1799 With:Viscount Feilding 1788–1790 Sir George Beaumont, Bt 1790–1796 William Mitford 1796–1799 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forEast Looe 1799–1801 With:William Frederick Buller | Parliament merged with theParliament of Ireland to form theParliament of the United Kingdom |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| New parliament | Member of Parliament forEast Looe 1801–1802 With:William Frederick Buller | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chancellor of Durham 1788–1791 | Succeeded by |
| Solicitor General 1793–1799 | Succeeded by | |
| Attorney General 1799–1801 | Succeeded by | |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom 1801–1802 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lord High Chancellor of Ireland 1802–1806 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Redesdale 1802–1830 Member of theHouse of Lords (1802–1830) | Succeeded by |
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