WESTON, John (1651-1712), of Ockham, Surr.

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

Constituency

Dates

1698
Feb. 1701
Dec. 1701

Family and Education

bap. 16 June 1651, 1st surv. s. of Henry Weston of Ockham by Katherine, da. of Sir William Ford of Harting, Suss. educ. Christ Church, Oxf. 1670, I. Temple 1670. m. lic. 5 June 1677, Frances, da. and coh. of Henry Hall of Greatford, Lincs., 7s. 5da. suc. fa. 1666.1

Offices Held

Commr. for assessment, Surr. 1673-80, 1689-90, j.p. 1680-?d., dep. Lt. by 1701-?10, receiver-gen. of taxes 1703-10.2

Gent. of the privy chamber 1691-d.3

Biography

Weston came from a very old and prolific Surrey family, which had held land in the county since the reign of King John, and first represented it in Parliament in 1330. They were not of the same stock as their neighbours of Sutton Place, who came into Surrey only in 1521 but rapidly achieved far greater prominence until driven out of public life by their recusancy. Weston’s father was a parliamentary supporter in the Civil War; a Presbyterian elder and a recruiter for Guildford, seven miles from his home, he abstained from the Rump but continued to hold local office throughout the Interregnum. Weston, one of 23 children, must have opposed exclusion, for he was made a j.p. in 1680. When he was pricked for sheriff in 1686 he succeeded in shifting the burden on to the shoulders of Morgan Randyll. He defeated Randyll at Guildford in the general election of 1689 and survived a petition from his opponent, but he was not an active Member of the Convention. He voted to agree with the Lords that the throne was not vacant, and was appointed only to the committee on the bill to restrain election expenditure (25 Oct.). He lost his seat to Randyll at the general election, but served as Tory knight of the shire in the last three Parliaments of William III. As receiver of taxes for Surrey under Anne, he became hopelessly indebted, and under a private Act of 1710 sold his estates to Peter King, subsequently lord chancellor. He died in 1712. His son inherited late in life the Nicholas property at West Horsley, but no subsequent member of the family entered Parliament.4

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: J. S. Crossette

Notes

  • 1. Soc. of Genealogists, Ockham par. reg.; Brayley, Surr. ii. 86-87; London Mar. Lic. ed. Foster, 1441.
  • 2. Surr. RO, QS2/1/6, ff. 158, 281; Cal. Treas. Bks. xviii. 252; xxiv. 215.
  • 3. Carlisle, Privy Chamber, 207, 215.
  • 4. VCH Surr. ii. 36; iii. 355, 361; D. Underdown, Pride’s Purge, 389.