LONG (afterwards NORTH), Dudley (1748-1829), of Hurts Hall, Saxmundham, Suff.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1780 - 1784
1784 - 11 Apr. 1793
17 Apr. 1793 - 1796
1796 - 1806
1807 - Feb. 1808
16 Feb. 1808 - 1812
1812 - 1818
1820 - Feb. 1821

Family and Education

bap. 14 Mar. 1748, 2nd s. of Charles Long of Hurts Hall, Suff. by Mary, da. and coh. of Dudley North of Little Glemham, Suff.  educ. Bury St. Edmunds g.s.; Emmanuel, Camb. 1766; L. Inn 1769.  suc. aunt Anne, wid. of Hon. Nicholas Herbert at Little Glemham 1789, and took name of North; bro. 1812 and resumed name of Long in addition to North.  m. 6 Nov. 1802 Sophia, da. of Charles Anderson Pelham, 1st Baron Yarborough, s.p.

Offices Held

Biography

Long was a friend of Lord Richard Cavendish, and in 1780 was recommended by Rockingham to Edward Eliot who brought him into Parliament.1 In 1784 he was returned for Grimsby on the interest of Charles Anderson Pelham, his future father-in-law. He voted with Fox and formed one of the nucleus of his party. He was a manager for the impeachments of Hastings and Impey.

Dr. Johnson’s comment is well known:2 ‘Long’s character is very short. It is nothing. He fills a chair. He is a man of genteel appearance and that is all.’ But Boswell adds: ‘Little did he know that, owing to Mr. Long’s reserve in his presence, he was talking thus of a gentleman distinguished among his acquaintance, for acuteness of wit.’ George Crabbe, the poet, whom Long befriended when poor and unknown, wrote of him:3‘Though a silent Member of the House (for he had a strong impediment in his utterance), “yet”, said Mr. Fox, “we owe to Dudley’s suggestions some of the best hits we have made”.’

Long died 21 Feb. 1829.

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: M. H. Port

Notes

  • 1. Rockingham to Portland, 1 Sept. 1780, Portland mss.
  • 2. Boswell, Johnson, iv. 81.
  • 3. Life and Works (1854), pp. 13, 43.