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- St Anne, Soho, Middlesex
December 1746
24 Mathew Fetherston, the younger Esq of Hassenbrook in ye Parish of Stanford le Hope in ye County of Essex
Sarah Lethieullier of Belmont in ye County of Middlesex
Married by Revd Utrick Fetherston haugh Rector of Oxted, Surrey
Stanford Le Hope, Essex burial 26 March 1774 Sir Matthew Featherston
Prerogative Court of Canterbury Will
Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh otherwise Fetherston
Memorandums for a Will
Sat Mar 19th 1774 that he be bureyed at Stanford la hope where Sir Harry ffetherstone is buryed. That his funeral be private That Hy ffetherstones fortune be punctually paid and two hundred pounds added to it and three thousand pounds paid her at her free disposal That Lady ffetherstone and Benjn Lethieullier Esq her brother have the care of his only Son Henry ffetherstone till he rounds the age of twenty one years
(in the margin In the 24th day of Sept 1776 the will of the goods chattels and ?? of Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh otherwise Fetherstone late of the Parish of St Martin in the Fields in the County of Mdx Baronet...on the oath of Sarah Fetherstonhaugh otherwise Fetherston widow and Benjamin Lethieullier Esq)
£200 to Joshua Ironmonger Esq £50 to his brothers and sisters
£100 an be paid to to brothers Robt and Utrict during their natural lives
Signed and sealed 19th March? 1774 in presence of Thos Moore Edwd Pyke, H Lasceilles
On the 28th day of March 1774 Administration with the Will or Testamentary Schedule of Sir Matthew ffetherstonhaugh otherwise ffetherston of the Parish of St Martin in the ffields in the County of Middlesex Baronet deceased was granted to Sarah ffetherstonhaugh otherwise ffetherston and Benjamin Lethiellier Esquire
Fetherstonhaugh, Sir Matthew, 1st Bt. (?1714-74), of Uppark, Suss.
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 Morpeth 29 November. 1755 - 1761 Portsmouth 1761 - 18 Mar. 1774
Family and Education
b. ?1714, 1st s. of Matthew Fetherstonhaugh, merchant, hostman and twice mayor of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, by Sarah, da. and h. of Robert Browne. m. 24 Dec. 1746, Sarah, da. of Christopher Lethieullier, sis. of Benjamin Lethieullier, half-sis. of Joshua Iremonger of Wherwell, Hants, 1s. suc. 1746 to the estates in Essex, Herts., Mdx. and the City of London, of Sir Henry Fetherston, 2nd and last Bt., said to be worth £400,000; purchased Uppark 1747 for £19,000. suc. fa. in estates in Northumb., Kent and Mdx. 1762; cr. Bt. 3 January. 1747.
Fetherstonhaugh and his wife spent 1749-52 travelling in France, Italy, and Austria. Horace Mann wrote to Thomas Pelham on 17 Oct. 1750, about an invitation he had to dine with them:
Perhaps you do not know who the Fetherstones are. Sir Matthew is a very sick baronet ... my lady is sister to Mr. Iremonger and Mr. Lethieullier who are here and occupying your house. They are all vastly rich.
From the journey Fetherstonhaugh brought back valuable collections of pictures, tapestries, china, etc. In 1754 he built for himself a house in Whitehall, now the Scottish Office, for nearly £6,000. The same year he stood for Parliament at Andover where Iremonger had a considerable interest; Fetherstonhaugh was going ‘to try what his friends can do for him’, and had the fullest support from Newcastle. He failed, and wrote to Newcastle on the death of William Hay in June 1755, asking to succeed him at Seaford. On being told that the seat was promised to James Peachey he seemed piqued at that preference and uncertain whether he would wish to come in for another place; and when on 1 November. Newcastle informed him through John Page of an expected vacancy at Tiverton where ‘there can be no doubt of success with very little expense’, Fetherstonhaugh did not relish the idea, nor, wrote Page, was likely to relish the suggestion of any other constituency: ‘I think he is vexed with himself for having stooped to ask what he finds he has not weight enough to carry.’ But when, on Robert Ord being appointed chief baron of the Exchequer in Scotland, Newcastle suggested that Fetherstonhaugh should succeed him at Morpeth (on Lord Carlisle’s interest), Fetherstonhaugh replied, 17 November., that next to Seaford nothing could be ‘more satisfactory than the serving for one in Northumberland’. Still, he would not spend more than £500 or £600, and wished to avoid a journey to Northumberland: or else the expense should be included in the sum named above. Newcastle replied on the 19th: My Lord Carlisle has sent me word by Mr. Ord that the expense is £600 and no more. Mr. Ord says there must be a dinner, which can’t exceed £20. upon that we shall not differ ... you need not give yourself the trouble of a journey. Fetherstonhaugh was returned unopposed, 29 November. 1755.
In April 1759, on a vacancy in the county representation of Essex, Fetherstonhaugh was offered the seat by a group of leading Essex Whigs, but declined standing, or undertaking to stand at the next general election.
On 5 Oct. 1759 Robert Ord, who was one of Lord Carlisle’s executors, wrote to Newcastle that at Morpeth some Yorkshire militia officers had offered ‘money for the choosing of a Member the next election’; this forced him to put up immediately two candidates not disagreeable to the voters; at the same time Lady Carlisle’s chief manager proposed to her Thomas Duncombe and Ord’s son for candidates, and she agreed; the voters would not have accepted Fetherstonhaugh; and it was necessary to act immediately. Newcastle, much surprised, forwarded the letter to Fetherstonhaugh. I shall certainly [he wrote, 13 Oct.] acquaint my Lord Chief Baron that I think myself very unkindly used by his Lordship. What effect that may have upon him who has such obligations to me, I know not.
But he assured Fetherstonhaugh of a seat in the next Parliament. Fetherstonhaugh replied that he had previous warning ‘of the secret contrivances for this change’. the Carlisle manager had told a friend of his that he could not be elected again- that the freemen were offended, and resolved not to choose a person they had never seen; and that to preserve the interest of the Carlisle family he was obliged to humour the freemen, who had been tampered with by an attorney or two, and a great sum of money offered them. Fetherstonhaugh did not doubt that the alleged discontent among the freemen had not arisen ‘without instigation’.
Newcastle kept his promise, and on his recommendation to Anson, Fetherstonhaugh was returned with Admiralty support at Portsmouth. On 1 April. Fetherstonhaugh wrote to Newcastle thanking him for having recommended me to so worthy a set of gentlemen as this corporation seems to consist of; for everything was done with great order and decency; and after the election was over we finished the evening with great mirth and jollity.
He received his parliamentary whip direct from Newcastle both in October 1761 and 1762; was classed in Bute’s parliamentary list of December 1761 as ‘Newcastle’; does not appear in Fox’s list of Members favourable to the peace preliminaries; but did not vote with the minority either.
In the autumn of 1763 Fetherstonhaugh was classed by Jenkinson as ‘contra’; under the Grenville Administration voted steadily in opposition; and was counted by Newcastle among his ‘sure friends ... to be sent to upon any occasion’. In Rockingham’s list of the summer of 1765 he was classed as a friend, and on 2 June 1766 was named by Newcastle among those ‘proposed to be made peers’; he again appears as a friend in Rockingham’s list in the winter of 1766-7 and in Newcastle’s of 2 Mar. 1767; and in Townshend’s of January 1767 as a ‘Rockingham’. He voted with Opposition on the land tax, 27 February. 1767, over payment of the King’s debts, 3 Mar. 1769, in the divisions over Wilkes and the Middlesex election, 8 May 1769 and 25 January. 1770, and the Spanish convention, 13 February. 1771. In Robinson’s two surveys on the royal marriage bill, March 1772, he is marked ‘contra, sick, present’; but he did not vote on 11 Mar. the Duke of Richmond wrote to Edmund Burke, 2 Dec. 1772: I ... went to Up Park to my friend Sir Matthew Fetherstone ... I found that all idea of getting him to London was vain. He has been in a very dangerous illness for several months. He is now better ... but fears, and with great reasons, that if he was to venture out ... it might cost him his life.
There is no record of Fetherstonhaugh having spoken in the House.
Fetherstonhaugh was among the biggest holders of East India and (at various times) of Bank of England stock, but never was a director of either. His holdings in East India stock averaged about £16,000, and when split represented considerable voting strength: he supported Clive in 1763, 1764 and 1769;12 in 1772 was inclined to temporize. He was also, together with John Sargent, Thomas Walpole, Samuel Wharton and Benjamin Franklin, one of the foremost promoters of the scheme for an interior colony, ‘Vandalia’, on the Ohio river, commemorated by a folly in the park, known as Vandalia Tower.
Fetherstonhaugh was a man of wide interests and reading, the owner of a fine library, and author of two manuscript volumes on ‘natural philosophy’ (with a chapter on electricity).
He died 18 Mar. 1774 aged 59. In the will which he made on his deathbed, he appointed his widow and Benjamin Lethieullier guardians to his only son Harry.
Ref Volumes: 1754-1790 Author: Sir Lewis Namier
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/Fetherstonhaugh-sir-matthew-1714-74
Matthew Fetherstonhaugh From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh, 1st Baronet)
Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh, 1st Baronet, FRS c. 1714 - 18 March 1774 was an English politician and landowner.
He was the son of Matthew Fetherstonhaugh of Featherstone Castle, Northumberland. In 1746, he inherited the estates of a kinsman Sir Henry Fetherston but not Sir Henry's baronetcy which became extinct on his death. However, on 3 January 1747, Fetherstonhaugh was created a baronet of Featherstonehaugh in the County of Northumberland, in the Baronetage of Great Britain.
On his marriage to Sarah Lethieullier, sister of Benjamin Lethieullier, in December 1746, he bought Uppark, Sussex and the manors of East And West Harting and in 1747 sold the family estate at Featherstone to James Wallace. Between 1748 and 1753 he undertook the Grand Tour with his brother-in-law Benjamin Lethieullier and his step brother-in-law Lascelles Iremonger. They brought back to Uppark an impressive collection of Italian art.
He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Morpeth from 1755 to 1761 and for Portsmouth from 1762 to 1774.
In the 1750s he commissioned architect James Paine to design and build Dover House, Whitehall, London.
He was succeeded by his son Henry.
In 1774 he commissioned Vandalian Tower.
The Vandalian Tower is an 18th century folly, built to commemorate the British colony of Vandalia, a short lived colony that disappeared with the spread of America. It sits on the summit of Tower Hill. Today the ruin is owned by the National Trust, in Harting parish, within the grounds of Uppark House. It was listed as a scheduled monument in 1976. The tower was built in 1774, designed by English architect Henry Keene for Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh, to celebrate the founding of the colony of Vandalia. The tower was quickly abandoned, possibly out of embarrassment of the failure of Vandalia. In the late 18th century, Emma Hamilton is said to have frequently watched for Lord Nelson's ship arriving from the tower. This lead to it being referred to by locals as “Lady Hamilton’s Folly,” The tower was partly destroyed by fire in 1842 and the ruins were stabilised in 1982.
Sir Henry Fetherston 1711-1747.Said to be the richest man in the country. Outsurviving all his children at the age of 90 leaving his vast fortune to a relative from Northumberland. Matthew Featherstonhaugh 1747-1774. acquired his Baronetcy with his new found wealth and purchased 'Uppark' in Sussex (now owned by National Trust)where he resided though he remained lord of 'Hassenbrook'. And is buried in St.Margaret's church Stanford-le-Hope.
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1714 - 1774 (~ 60 years)
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