ORD, John (1729-1814), of Bingfield, Northumb.

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

27 Dec. 1774 - 1780
1780 - 1784
1784 - 1790

Family and Education

bap. 11 Oct. 1729, o.s. of Robert Ord.  educ. Hackney; Trinity, Camb. 1746; L. Inn 1747, called 1754.  m. 30 Oct. 1762, Eleanor, da. of John Simpson of Bradley, co. Dur., s.p.  suc. fa. 1778.

Offices Held

Attorney-gen. to the duchy of Lancaster 1777-1810; master in Chancery 1778-1809; chairman of ways and means 1778-84.

Biography

In 1761 Ord’s father, one of Lord Carlisle’s executors, arranged for him to stand at Morpeth as second candidate on the Carlisle interest, but he was defeated by a candidate put forward by the freemen of the borough who resented the Carlisle family’s efforts to control both seats. His father again suggested him as a candidate in 1768, but it was now clear that the Carlisle interest would only carry one seat, and when Lord Carlisle, informing Ord that he had a prior engagement, offered it to the Treasury, Ord did not stand. He does not appear to have made any further attempt to enter Parliament till December 1774 when he was returned unopposed for Midhurst as an Administration candidate.

In Parliament Ord constantly supported Administration till the fall of North. After 1778, as chairman of the committee of ways and means, he frequently made reports to the House and intervened on various occasions, but otherwise there is no record of any speech by him in Parliament. In 1780 he was returned as an Administration candidate for Hastings. He voted for Shelburne’s peace preliminaries, 18 Feb. 1783, and for Fox’s East India bill, 27 Nov. 1783. Ord gave up his position as chairman of ways and means after the dismissal of the Coalition, and was classed by Robinson in January 1784 and in Stockdale’s list of 19 Mar. as ‘Opposition’. At the general election he was returned for Wendover, and was reported to have paid £3,000 for his seat. All his votes during this Parliament were with Opposition. Ord did not stand again in 1790.

He died 6 June 1814.

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: Mary M. Drummond

Notes