FELTON, Sir Adam, 3rd Bt. (aft.1637-97), of Playford, Suff.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715, ed. D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley, 2002
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1695 - 9 Feb. 1697

Family and Education

b. aft. 1637, 1st surv. s. of Sir Henry Felton, 2nd Bt.†, of Shotley, Suff. and Playford by Susanna, da. of Sir Lionel Tollemache, 2nd Bt.†, of Helmingham, Suff.; bro. of Thomas Felton*.  m. by 1676, Elizabeth, da. of Sir George Reresby of Thrybergh, Yorks., wid. of Sir Francis Foljambe, 1st Bt.†, of Walton, Derbys., Edward Horner of Mells, Som. and William, Visct. Monson of Castlemaine [I]†, 1da.  suc. fa. as 3rd Bt. Oct. 1690.1

Offices Held

Biography

Felton stood with Sir Joseph Williamson on the Tory interest at Thetford in 1690, but after a double return they were declared not elected. Although he originally had no intention of standing at Orford, in 1695 he joined his Whig brother Thomas as a candidate at the eleventh hour, in order to prevent an outsider being brought in and to settle the ‘differences’ in the borough. Thomas was quite ‘cold in the matter and told him he durst not propose him to his party for they looked on him [to be] as great a Jacobite as Sir Edward Turnor*’, but Felton ‘proposed himself’ at a meeting of the local Whig ‘cabal’ and was accepted. Afterwards, some Whigs expressed strong reservations about the arrangement. Their fears, however, were not borne out. Forecast as likely to support the Court in the divisions of 31 Jan. 1696 on the proposed council of trade, Felton signed the Association promptly and in his dealings with the corporation he did little to satisfy Tories in Orford: in October 1696 one Tory wrote, ‘I have reason to believe he is more for them [the Whigs] than us’.2

Reported on 27 Jan. 1697 to be ‘very sick and not like to recover’, he died on 9 Feb.3

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Author: D. W. Hayton

Notes

  • 1. Procs. Suff. Inst. Arch. iv. 33, 55; Add. 19125, ff. 127–9.
  • 2. W. Suss. RO, Shillinglee mss Ac.454/1009, 968, Theophilus Hooke to Sir Edward Turnor, 4 Nov. 1695, Nathaniel Gooding to same, 26 Oct. 1696.
  • 3. Ibid. Ac.454/969, Gooding to Turnor, 27 Jan. 1696[–7]; Hervey Diary, 26.