WIGLEY, James (1700-65), of Scraptoft Hall, nr. Leicester.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

27 Apr. 1737 - 21 June 1765

Family and Education

b. 10 Aug. 1700, 2nd surv. s. of Sir Edward Wigley of Scraptoft by Letitia, da. and h. of Arthur Cressey of Brigsley, Lincs. educ. Rugby 1713; Magdalen, Oxf. 1718. m. Martha, da. and h. of Richard Ebourne of Allesley, Warws., s.p. suc. bro. 1716.

Offices Held

Biography

Wigley came of a family settled in Leicestershire since the sixteenth century, with extensive estates in the county. Returned as a Tory for Leicester on the corporation interest at a by-election in 1737, he voted against the Administration except on the motion for the dismissal of Walpole in February 1741, when he was among the Tories who withdrew. Re-elected unopposed in 1741, he continued to vote against the Government in all recorded divisions except on the Hanoverians in 1746, when he was absent. The 2nd Lord Egmont wrote of him, c.1749-50: ‘Much such another man as Smith’ i.e. ‘a good natured Tory who does not love attendance.’

He died 21 June 1765.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Eveline Cruickshanks

Notes