Sir John Major, 1st Baronet
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Sir John Major, 1st Baronet (17 May 1698 – 22 February 1781) was a British merchant,
In 1724 he married Elizabeth Dale, daughter of another Bridlington merchant, and they had two daughters – Anne, who married John Henniker in 1747, and Elizabeth, who married Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos in 1767. At the age of 60 he decided to stand for Parliament, and in 1761 was elected unopposed as MP for Scarborough (the nearest borough to Bridlington, where his business interests presumably gave him an influence); at the same election, his son-in-law Henniker was returned for Sudbury, and the two thereafter formed a close political and business partnership, seeking the government contracts that in those days were generally awarded to MPs ahead of their commercial rivals. They secured among others a contract for victualling the British troops in West Florida, and grants of land – 20,000 acres (81 km2) each – in Nova Scotia.
At the same time, Henniker lobbied the government to create Major a baronet. (Henniker's letter to the Prime Minister, George Grenville, in which he put his case, quoted by Namier & Brooke, is the main source of information on Major's early life.) On 5 July 1765, Major was created a Baronet, of Worlingsworth Hall in the County of Suffolk, with a special remainder to Henniker. Just five days after the warrant was signed Grenville's administration, to which Henniker and Major had adhered, was dismissed; the opportunity might easily not have arisen again. At the next election in 1768, Major was opposed by a government candidate at Scarborough and defeated. He did not stand for Parliament again.
Major died on 22 February 1781, aged 82, and was succeeded in the baronetcy according to the special remainder by his son-in-law John Henniker, who was elevated to the
References
- Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, [page needed]
- Lewis Namier & John Brooke, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754-1790 (London: HMSO, 1964)
- Leigh Rayment's list of baronets