PIERREPONT, Evelyn (1665-1726), of West Dean, Wilts.

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

1689 - 17 Sept. 1690

Family and Education

bap. 27 Feb. 1665, 3rd s. of Robert Pierrepont of Thoresby, Notts. by Elizabeth, da. and coh. of Sir John Evelyn† of West Dean.  educ. Winchester 1680; Christ’s, Camb. 1683, LL.D. 1705.  m. (1) lic. 27 June 1687 (with £6,000), Lady Mary Feilding (d. 1697), da. of William, 3rd Earl of Denbigh, 1s. d.v.p. 3da.; (2) 2 Aug. 1714, Lady Isabella, da. of Hans Willem Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, 2da.  suc. bro. as 5th Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull 17 Sept. 1690; cr. Mq. of Dorchester 23 Dec. 1706, Duke of Kingston 10 Aug. 1715; KG 29 Apr. 1719.1

Offices Held

Custos rot. Notts. by 1696–bef. 1701, Wilts. 1706–12, 1714–d.; freeman, Nottingham 1706, recorder, Nottingham 1707–d.; ld. lt. Wilts. 1714–d.; c.j. in eyre N. of Trent 1714–16.2

Commr. union with Scotland 1706; PC 26 June 1708–d.; ld. privy seal 1716–18, 1720–6; ld. pres. 1719–20; ld. justice 1719–20, 1725.

Biography

By 1690 Pierrepont was the heir to the earldom of Kingston and as such had at his disposal the family’s interest in Nottinghamshire. Re-elected for East Retford in 1690, he was marked as a Whig by the Marquess of Carmarthen (Sir Thomas Osborne†) on a list of that Parliament. He was appointed to only one important committee on 24 Apr. 1690, to draft an abjuration bill. His career in the Commons was cut short by his succession to the peerage on the death of his brother. He continued to espouse the Whig cause, supporting candidates in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire and being elected a member of the Kit-Cat Club. He was rewarded for his efforts by successive promotions in the peerage, culminating in a dukedom in 1715. He died on 5 Mar. 1726 at his house in Arlington Street after a short illness. His will directed that he be buried in the family vault at Holme Pierrepont, Nottinghamshire. He was succeeded by his grandson, also Evelyn, who inherited substantial estates in Buckinghamshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire and Wiltshire.3

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Author: Stuart Handley

Notes

  • 1. Misc. Gen. et Her. ser. 2, i. 210; Add. 6671, f. 140; Egerton 3526, f. 6.
  • 2. Nottingham Bor. Recs. vi. 36, 106, 314.
  • 3. The Gen. n.s. vii. 43; Egerton 3531, f. 3.