BAGOT, Sir Walter, 3rd Bt. (1644-1705), of Blithfield, Staffs.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715, ed. D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley, 2002
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Mar. 1679 - 1681
1685 - 1687
1689 - 1690
7 Dec. 1693 - 1695

Family and Education

b. 21 Mar. 1644, 3rd but 1st surv. s. of Sir Edward Bagot, 2nd Bt., by Mary, da. and h. of William Lambard of Buckingham.  educ. Christ Church, Oxf. 1662; M. Temple 1666.  m. lic. 25 June 1670, Jane (d. 1695), da. and h. of Charles Salusbury of Bachymbydd, Denb., 5s. (2 d.v.p.) 5da. (1 d.v.p.).  suc. fa. as 3rd Bt. 30 Mar. 1673.1

Offices Held

Commr. inquiry into offences in Needwood forest, 1687.2

Biography

Bagot was descended from a family which claimed to have held property in Staffordshire since the reign of William I. He sat for the county in five successive Parliaments between 1679 and 1690, but his service had been undistinguished, punctuated as it was by severe bouts of ill-health. Possibly for this reason he did not stand in the 1690 election. However, the death of Walter Chetwynd* in March 1693 forced him back into the political arena. A group of Whigs led by Philip Foley* attempted to set up Hon. Henry Paget* at the ensuing by-election. This manoeuvre was blocked by the Tories, who accused Paget of ignoring the tradition by which the candidates were agreed by the gentry at a county meeting. Bagot was set up at such a meeting in October 1693 and his candidacy widely publicized in a circular letter signed by many leading gentry. Faced by this show of strength, and unsure of being able to triumph at the poll, Paget desisted, leaving Bagot to be returned unopposed.3

Bagot is not mentioned in the Journals, nor does his name appear on the one parliamentary list extant from his period of service in the House, which named Court supporters. His attendance was probably limited by ill-health, which continued to trouble him. In April 1695 he was noted as one of a group of Denbighshire landowners opposing a grant to the Earl of Portland of crown lands in Wales, but he was not in London when the group’s representatives lobbied the Treasury. He did not stand at the 1695 election. By 1698 he had obviously decided to transfer his interest to his son, Edward*, as he wrote in March of that year that he was ‘so totally disabled that I can do my country no further service’. Although he was included in the lieutenancy commission of March 1701, he had resigned this to his son by May 1703. He died on 15 Feb. 1705, his remains being buried under the altar of Blithfield church.4

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Author: Stuart Handley

Notes

  • 1. W. Bagot, Hist. Fam. Bagot, 75.
  • 2. Staffs. RO, Vernon mss D1790/A/4/3.
  • 3. G. Wrottesley, Hist. Bagot Fam. 2–5; Hereford and Worcester RO (Hereford), Foley mss Box E12/F/IV/BE, [–] to Philip Foley, n.d.; ‘gents.’ circular letter, 4 Oct. 1693; E12/IV/BE/273, 275, William Nabbs to Philip Foley, 17, 18 Oct. 1693.
  • 4. Cal. Treas. Pprs. 1557–1696, p.438; Cal. Treas. Bks. x. 1051, 1202; Wm. Salt Lib. (Stafford), Bagot mss D/1721/3/291, Edward Bagot to [–], 1 Mar. 1697–8 (Horwitz trans.); CSP Dom. 1700–2, p. 250; 1703–4, p. 278; Bagot, 79.