LAWSON, Wilfred (c.1636-aft.1679), of Brayton, Aspatria, Cumb.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. c.1636, 2nd s. of Sir Wilfred Lawson. educ. G. Inn 1654, called 1660. m. Sarah, da. of William James of Washington, co. Dur., and coh. to her bro. William, 2s. 1da.1

Offices Held

Commr. for militia, Cumb. Mar. 1660, assessment Aug. 1660-1, 1673-80, sheriff 1678-9.

Biography

Lawson’s father bought Brayton in 1658 and settled it on him, with five other Cumbrian manors. He was returned to Richard Cromwell’s Parliament for Cockermouth on the family interest, and reelected in 1660, defeating the Earl of Northumberland’s candidate by a wide margin. Lord Wharton marked him as a friend in the Convention, and he probably voted with the Opposition; but he was appointed only to the committee for the confirmation of parliamentary privileges. He gave way to his father at the general election of 1661, and apparently never stood again. As sheriff in 1679 he seems to have assisted the election of the exclusionist Richard Lamplugh. Nothing further is known of him, except that he predeceased his father. His son sat for Cumberland as a Tory with one brief interval from 1701 to 1734.2

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: M. W. Helms / Gillian Hampson

Notes

  • 1. Hutchinson, Cumb. ii. 241; Surtees, Dur. i. 216.
  • 2. Northern Hist. v. 62.