ADAMS, George (1731-89), of Sambrook, Salop, and Shugborough, Staffs.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1761 - 1768
31 Jan. 1770 - 27 Oct. 1789

Family and Education

bap. 25 July 1731, 1st s. of Sambrook Adams of Sambrook by Janet, da. of William Anson, sis. of Thomas and Adm. Lord Anson. m. 5 Jan. 1763, Hon. Mary Venables Vernon, da. of George, 1st Baron Vernon, 8s. 3da. suc. to estates of his uncle Thomas Anson, and took name of Anson 1773.

Offices Held

Biography

Adams was returned for Saltash in 1761 through the influence of his uncle Lord Anson, then first lord of the Admiralty. In Parliament he followed the lead of his uncle Thomas Anson, and in February 1764 joined the Opposition. He supported the Rockingham Administration, but in November 1766 went back into opposition. In 1768 he could not expect to be returned again for an Admiralty borough, and he was out of Parliament until January 1770 when his uncle vacated the family seat at Lichfield.

Anson (as Adams became in 1773) consistently opposed North’s Administration. He voted for Shelburne’s peace preliminaries, 18 Feb. 1783, and was classed in Robinson’s list as influenced by Lord Hardwicke (Lord Anson had married the sister of the 2nd Earl of Hardwicke). Anson voted for Fox’s East India bill, 27 Nov. 1783, and on 16 Dec. Fox wrote to request his ‘immediate attendance’ in Parliament:1

The indecent interference which has defeated the India bill in the House of Lords has alarmed the minds of all men ... I am sure you will do me the justice to believe that I should not write in this manner to a gentleman with whom I have so little the honour of acquaintance if the critical situation of things did not justify me.

Anson was classed by Robinson January 1784 as ‘Opposition’, and remained with them until his death, 27 Oct. 1789.

 

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: John Brooke

Notes

  • 1. Earl of Lichfield’s mss.