LUBBOCK, John William (1773-1840), of Downe, Kent and Lamas, Norf.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1812 - 1820

Family and Education

b. 27 Dec. 1773, o. surv. s. of William Lubbock of Lamas, Norf. by Anne, da. and h. of Thomas Woodrow of Hobis, Norf. educ. Charterhouse 1786-91. m. 1 Aug. 1799, Mary, da. of James Entwistle, merchant, of Rusholme, Manchester, Lancs., 1s. suc. uncle (Sir) John Lubbock* as 2nd Bt. 24 Feb. 1816; fa. 1823.

Offices Held

Dir. R. Exchange Assurance 1797; member, Society of Merchants trading to the Continent 1801; asst. Levant Co. 1811.

Biography

Under the aegis of his uncle John, Lubbock became a London merchant and a partner in Lubbock’s bank, of which he was principal after his uncle’s death. In 1812 he had succeeded him as Member for Leominster, heading the poll then and in 1818. Like his uncle, he was an independent Member, inclined to opposition. On 8 and 11 Dec. 1812 he voted against the gold coin bill and in his only known speech before 1820 objected to the ministerial plan of finance, 26 Mar. 1813, describing the manipulation of Pitt’s sinking fund as an important breach of public faith, to which the imposition of additional taxation was preferable. He voted for consideration of Catholic relief on 2 Mar., for delaying the bill on 11 May, for the bill on 13 May, but against it on 24 May—without explanation. (In 1817 he voted for relief.) He was in the majority for the sinecure regulation bill, 29 Mar. 1813. He opposed alteration of the Corn Laws at every opportunity, 1814-15. He opposed the civil list, 14 Apr. 1815, the resumption of hostilities, 28 Apr., and voted for the reception of the London petition against it, 1 May. He voted for reduction of the Household troops, 11 Mar. 1816, against the property tax, 18 Mar. and for retrenchment, 25 Apr., 20 June, as well as against the leather tax, 9 May 1816.

After voting against ministers on the composition of the finance committee, 7 Feb. 1817, Lubbock changed sides on the Admiralty salaries, 17 Feb., and again joined the majority for the suspension of habeas corpus, 23 June. He was in the opposition majority against the Duke of Clarence’s marriage grant, 15 Apr. 1818, and on 14 May opposed the chancellor of the Exchequer on the forgery question, but he opposed the attack on the imprisonment of radical booksellers, 21 May. In the ensuing Parliament he was apparently in the minority only spasmodically: against the Windsor establishment, 22 Feb. 1819, for review of the criminal law, 2 Mar., for Admiralty retrenchment, 18 Mar., against the navy estimates, 2 June, and against the public lottery, 9 June. He did not seek re-election in 1820. Lubbock died 22 Oct. 1840.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: M. J. Williams

Notes