Bobby Shafto
Robert Shafto | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for County Durham | |
In office 1760–1768 | |
Preceded by | George Bowes |
Succeeded by | Sir Thomas Clavering |
Member of Parliament for Downton | |
In office 1780–1790 | |
Preceded by | Hon. Bartholomew Bouverie |
Succeeded by | Hon. Bartholomew Bouverie |
Robert Shafto (sometimes spelt Shaftoe) (circa 1732 – 24 November 1797) was a British politician who sat in the
Biography
Robert Shafto was born around 1732[1] the son of John Shafto and his wife Mary Jackson, daughter of Thomas Jackson of Nunnington, Yorkshire at his family seat of Whitworth near Spennymoor in County Durham. He was educated at Westminster School from 1740 to 1749, when he entered Balliol College, Oxford.[2]
He succeeded to the family estates on the death of his father John in 1742.
On 18 April 1774 Shafto married Anne Duncombe (died 1783), daughter and heir of Thomas Duncombe of
The song
The song is said to relate the story of how he broke the heart of Bridget Belasyse of
- Bobby Shafto's looking out,
- All his ribbons flew about,
- All the ladies gave a shout,
- Hey for Bobby Shafto![7]
Thomas and George Allan, in their Tyneside Songs and Readings (1891), argued that the "Bobby Shafto" of the song was in fact a relative, Robert Shafto (1760–1781) of Benwell.[8] It is likely that his grandson, Robert Duncombe Shafto, also used the song for electioneering in 1861, with several of the later verses being added around this time.[5]
References
- ^ The date of his birth appears to be contradictory from a number of sources. Whitworth Hall Archived 29 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine claims it to be 1730, but the majority claim 1732.
- ^ a b c d e f Jessica Kilburn, 'Shafto, Robert (c. 1732–1797)' Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004)
- ^ North Eastern surnames website, URL accessed 30 September 2006
- ^ a b John Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry (1837), p. 49
- ^ a b c Whitworth Hall history Archived 29 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine, URL accessed 30 September 2006.
- ^ Famous North Eastern names Archived 7 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine, URL accessed 30 September 2006
- ^ I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 90–1.
- ^ Famous North Eastern names Archived 7 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine, giving this opinion. URL accessed 30 September 2006
External links
- Famous North Eastern people
- Portrait of his son, Robert by Sir Joshua Reynolds
- Midi file of "Bobby Shafto"