Family and Education

b. ?1733, o.s. of Samuel Clarke of West Bromwich, Staffs. by Mary Elizabeth, da. of Thomas Jervoise, M.P., of Herriard Park, Hants.  educ. Emmanuel, Camb. 10 Dec. 1751, aged 18.  m. 12 July 1763, Kitty, da. and h. of Robert Warner of Bedhampton, Hants, 3s.  suc. fa. 1767; took add. name of Jervoise in compliance with the will of his gd.-fa. c.1771.

Offices Held

Biography

Jervoise possessed estates said to be worth nearly £20,000 p.a. which included Hampshire property inherited from his maternal grandfather Thomas Jervoise. In 1768, with two other Hampshire gentlemen, Sir William Oglander and Sir Thomas Worsley, he attempted to overthrow the Holmes interest in the Isle of Wight boroughs. He successfully contested Yarmouth, but was unseated on petition. Before the next general election he concluded an agreement with the Holmes family by which each was to return one Member at Yarmouth, and in 1774 was himself returned there unopposed. In Parliament he voted consistently against North’s Administration. In 1779 he vacated his seat at Yarmouth to stand for Hampshire where he was opposed by the whole weight of ministerial power, yet was returned by a large majority. The English Chronicle wrote about him in 1781: ‘Though no active party man, he votes upon all occasions against Government, and is a constant attendant on his parliamentary duty.’ Jervoise did not vote on Shelburne’s peace preliminaries, 18 Feb. 1783; was classed by Robinson in March 1783 as a follower of Fox; voted for parliamentary reform, 7 May 1783, and for Fox’s East India bill, 27 Nov. 1783. He consistently opposed Pitt’s Administration from the start and throughout the 1784 Parliament. His only reported speech was during a debate on the bill for disfranchising voters employed by the Navy and Ordnance Boards, 30 Mar. 1786.

He died 5 Jan. 1808.

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: Mary M. Drummond

Notes