ROBERTS, John (aft.1672-1731), of Plas Newydd and Llwyn Ynn, Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, Denb.

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

1710 - 1713
1715 - 1722

Family and Education

b. aft. 1672, 1st s. of Hugh Roberts of Hafod-y-bwch by Anne, da. of Richard Wynn Jones of Plas Newydd, Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd and h. to her bro. Richard Wynn Jones (d. 1666) of Plas Newydd. educ. G. Inn 1687.  m. (1) 1693, Susannah (d. 1722), da. of William Parry of Llwyn Ynn, Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd and h. to her bro. David Parry (d. 1706), of Llwyn Ynn, 3s. d.v.p. 2da.; (2) Jane, da. of Sir Walter Bagot, 3rd Bt.*, sis. of Charles Bagot* and Sir Edward Bagot, 4th Bt.*, wid. of Morris Jones of Ddol, Edeirnion and Llanrhaeadr-yng-Nghinmeirch, Denb., s.p.; (3) Katherine, 1s.1

Offices Held

Freeman, Ruthin 1690; sheriff, Denb. 1697–8, 1705–6; mayor, Holt 1717–18.2

Biography

Two generations of marriages to local heiresses had moved Roberts a little way from his original patrimony at Hafod-y-bwch, a small estate lying in the shadow of Chirk Castle, but he remained a client of the Myddeltons, being returned on the Chirk interest for Denbigh Boroughs in 1710. He voted in the Commons with his patron: classed in the ‘Hanover list’ as a Tory, he was listed in 1711 as a ‘Tory patriot’, supporting peace, and a ‘worthy patriot’, backing the inquiries into the mismanagements of the previous ministry. In January 1712 he was included in Lord Treasurer Oxford’s (Robert Harley*) canvassing list concerning the Commons’ attack upon the Duke of Marlborough (John Churchill†). Otherwise he was an inconspicuous back-bencher, with no recorded speeches to his name. Roberts was again the Myddelton candidate for Denbigh Boroughs in 1713 but was defeated by John Wynne. On his election in 1715, turning the tables on Wynne, Roberts was classed as a Whig: presumably a simple error. He was one of 12 MPs approached by Robert Knight in March 1720 over the South Sea bill, being credited with £1,000 worth of stock without payment, a fact subsequently disclosed by the Commons’ South Sea committee. In 1722 he was obliged to give up his seat to a Myddelton, for whom he canvassed. Roberts died at Plas Newydd on 4 Sept. 1731, leaving an estate worth over £2,000 a year.3

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Author: D. W. Hayton

Notes

  • 1. J. E. Griffith, Peds. Anglesey and Caern. Fams. 238, 386; J. Y. W. Lloyd, Powys Fadog, iii. 42.
  • 2. A. N. Palmer, Country Townships of Wrexham, 23–24; Chirk Castle Accts. 1666–1753 ed. Myddelton, 372; A. N. Palmer, Town of Holt, 150.
  • 3. Country Townships of Wrexham, 24; NLW Jnl. xi. 107; Add. 70331, canvassing list [Jan. 1712]; J. Carswell, S. Sea Bubble, 120–1; Hist. Reg. Chron. 1731, p. 42.