PEACHEY, Sir Henry (c.1671-1737), of Newgrove, Petworth, Suss.

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

Dec. 1701 - 1702
1708 - 1710
2 Feb. 1736 - 23 Aug. 1737

Family and Education

b. c.1671, 1st s. of William Peachey, merchant, of London by Mary, da. and h. of John Hall of Newgrove; bro. of Bulstrode Peachey†.  educ. ?Eton 1685; Trinity, Oxf. matric. 22 Nov. 1689, aged 18.  m. 16 May 1693, Jane (d. 1717), da. of William Garrett of St. Dionis Backchurch, London, 2s. d.v.p. 2da. (1 d.v.p.).  suc. fa. 1685; kntd. 22 Mar. 1696; cr. Bt. 21 Mar. 1736.

Offices Held

Biography

Peachey’s father was a London merchant who acquired a seat at Petworth by marriage. Having failed to get elected at Midhurst in 1698, Peachey successfully contested Sussex in December 1701, when his return was classed by Lord Spencer (Charles*) as a gain for the Whigs, and he was similarly identified in Robert Harley’s list of this Parliament. He acted as teller on 27 Feb. 1702 against allowing affidavits taken in the plantations to be read in a committee considering a petition for relief against a colonial governor. He seems not to have stood in 1702, was defeated for the county in 1705, but was returned to Parliament again for Sussex in 1708, when he was classed as a Whig in a list of the returns. He voted in favour of naturalizing the Palatines in the 1708–9 session and was teller on 8 Mar. 1709 in favour of the Whig candidate in the disputed election case for Midhurst, although he was one of the Whig Members who expressed disquiet at the partial proceedings of the majority over the treatment of contested election cases in this session. In the next session he was given leave of absence for one month on 20 Dec. 1709, was first named to the drafting committee for a bill to improve the Chichester Road on 9 Feb. 1710, and voted for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell. Defeated in 1710, he did not stand for Parliament again until 1736, when he made a very brief return, representing Midhurst, until his death on 23 Aug. 1737. His recently acquired baronetcy was inherited by his brother John, who also took over the seat at Midhurst.1

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Author: Paula Watson

Notes

  • 1. G. Holmes, Pol. in Age of Anne, 43; HMC Portland, iv. 521.