Family and Education

b. 1663, o.s. of Rev. Charles Hotham, rector of Wigan, by Elizabeth, da. of Stephen Thompson of Hambleton, Yorks. educ. Sedbergh; St. John’s, Camb. 1681. m. (1) 9 Sept. 1690, Bridget (d. 4 Aug. 1707), da. of William Gee of Bishop’s Burton, Yorks., 2s. 3da.; (2) Lady Mildred, da. of James Cecil, M.P., 3rd Earl of Salisbury, wid. of Sir Uvedale Corbet, 3rd Bt., of Longnor, Salop, and sis. of Sir Richard Corbet, 4th Bt., s.p.s. suc. fa. 1672; and 1st cos. as 4th Bt. Aug. 1691.

Offices Held

Raised infantry corps in Yorks. and appointed col. 1705; brig.-gen. 1710; half-pay 1713; raised new regt. and appointed col. 1715; col. 16 Drag. Gds. 1717-18, 36 Ft. 1719; trans. 8 Ft. 1720, R. Drag. Gds. 1721-d.

Biography

The Hothams were an ancient Yorkshire family, seated since the beginning of the 13th century at Scorborough, near Beverley, which they represented in most Parliaments in the 17th century. Returned first for Scarborough and then for the family seat at Beverley, Hotham served in Spain during the war of the Spanish succession and in the north of England during the rebellion of 1715.1 A staunch Whig, he voted with the Government in all recorded divisions after George I’s accession. On 4 Dec. 1717 he supported a vote of censure on Shippen for reflecting on the King’s speech, and on 22 Jan. 1718 spoke against an opposition motion for the retention of half-pay officers. He seconded the peerage bill on 7 Dec. 1719, and on 10 June 1721 spoke in favour of allowing John Aislabie to retain his estate as it was at the end of 1719. He died 8 Jan. 1723, aged 60.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Romney R. Sedgwick

Notes

• 1. A. M. W. Stirling, The Hothams, i. 120-41.