John Langston (c. 1758 – 18 February 1812) was an Englishmerchant banker and politician. He sat in theHouse of Commons of Great Britain and its successor theHouse of Commons of the United Kingdom for most of the years between 1784 and 1807.
Langston was the oldest son of James Langston and his wife Sarah, ofSarsden House in Oxfordshire.
In 1784 he married Sarah Goddard, daughter of John Goddard ofWoodford Hall, Essex. They had one son (James Langston) and four daughters.[1]
Langston was probably educated atEton. He had a generous inheritance from his father, who died in 1795. As well as being a wine merchant in London,James Langston was adeputy governor of the Bank of England and founder of themerchant bank ofLangston, Towgood and Amory. John inherited a partnership in the bank, shares in theBritish East India Company, the Sarsden and Churchill estates in Oxfordshire, and £300,000[1] (equivalent to £39.1 million in 2023[2]).
Langston was a director of theSun Fire Office from 1794 until his death.[1] He aimed to buy himself a place in Parliament, but never found asafe seat.[1] At the1784 election he was returned after a contest as aMember of Parliament (MP) forSudbury, an open borough with a reputation for venality where the government backed his candidacy.[3]
At thenext election, in 1790, he contestedBridgwater in the interest of the4th Earl Poulett. TheEarl of Egmont had funded his sonViscount Perceval to contest the seat, but Langston and Poulett's brotherVere won by a comfortable margin.[4]
Having joined the opposition, Langston was no longer acceptable to Poulett,[4] so he turned instead toMinehead,[1] where opposition was mounting to the "overbearing conduct" of the borough's patronJohn Fownes Luttrell,[5] whoseDunster Castle-based family had dominated the borough for most of the period since its 16th-century enfranchisement.[6]Langston bought some building land inAlcombe, within the borough, from a Quaker William Davis who had advertised for a wealthy challenger. There he rapidly built some houses to register voters, and nominated himself and his wife's brother-in-lawAdmiral Charles Morice Pole.[5]At theelection in 1796 John Fownes Lutrell held his own seat, but Langston defeated his brotherThomas Fownes Luttrell.[1]
Luttrell rallied his support by thenext election in 1802, and defeated Langston, whose illegaltreating of voters after the arrival of thewrit, had not been enough to win. Anelection petition was prepared, but after a period of negotiations, Langston sold all his Minehead interests to Fownes Luttrell.[5]
Out ofParliament, Langston wasSheriff of Oxfordshire in 1804–05.[7]He was returned to the Commons in March 1806 for the Irishrotten borough ofPortarlington, whose patron the 2nd Earl of Portarlington accommodated Langston as a favour to thePrince of Wales.[8]
At thegeneral election in 1806, Langston returned to Bridgwater, where he won a contested election withVere Poulett again returned as his running-mate. However, by1807 the earl had disowned his brother's politics, and Langston withdrew.[4]
Langston never returned to Parliament, and died in 1812, aged about 54.
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSudbury 1784 –1790 With:William Smith | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBridgwater 1790 –1796 With:Hon. Vere Poulett | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forMinehead 1796 –1800 With:John Fownes Luttrell | Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain | Member of Parliament forMinehead 1801 –1802 With:John Fownes Luttrell | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forPortarlington March 1806 –November 1806 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBridgwater 1806 –1807 With:Hon. Vere Poulett | Succeeded by |