PENRUDDOCKE, Charles (1743-88), of Compton Chamberlayne, Wilts.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

2 Oct. 1770 - 30 Oct. 1788

Family and Education

bap. 24 Oct. 1743, o.s. of Charles Penruddocke of Compton Chamberlayne by Frances, da. of William Wyndham of Dinton, Wilts.  educ. Trinity, Oxf. 1761.  m. 10 Apr. 1769, his cos. Anne Henrietta, da. of Wadham Wyndham of Fyfield, Wilts., 5s., 4da.

Offices Held

Biography

Penruddocke came of a very old Wiltshire parliamentary family. In 1770 he was returned unopposed for the county. In Parliament he constantly voted against North’s Administration till its fall, except in the division on Lowther’s motion against the war, 12 Dec. 1781, in which he voted with the Government. He voted against Shelburne’s peace preliminaries, 18 Feb. 1783, and for Fox’s East India bill, 27 Nov. 1783. Robinson in his electoral survey of December 1783 noted about Penruddocke and his fellow Member, Ambrose Goddard: ‘They are moderate gentlemen, wish to preserve the constitution, and it is thought may with civility be friendly.’ In January 1784 Robinson counted Penruddocke as ‘very hopeful’, but in Stockdale’s list of 19 Mar. and Adam’s of May he was classed as ‘Opposition’, and he voted against Pitt’s Administration on the Irish proposals, 13 May 1785, and Richmond’s fortifications plan, 27 Feb. 1786. Penruddocke’s only reported speech in the House was on Sawbridge’s motion for shorter Parliaments, 15 May 1783, when he ‘barely said that he seconded the motion’.1  He died 30 Oct. 1788.

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: Mary M. Drummond

Notes

  • 1. Debrett, x. 27.