Family and Education

bap. 29 Oct. 1668,1 4th s. of James Littleton of Lingfield, Surr., being o.s. by his 3rd w. Susan,2 née Medlicot, of London, wid. of one White, attorney-at-law. m. Jane, da. of Richard Bunch, M.D., 1s. 2da. suc. Ann, wid. of cos. Sir Thomas Littleton, 3rd Bt. M.P., to North Ockendon estate 1714.

Offices Held

Lt. R.N. bef. 1690,3 capt. 1693; commodore and c.-in-c. West Indies 1710-12; commr. and c.-in-c. Chatham 1714-22; r.-adm. 1717; 2nd in command to Adm. Sir George Byng in the Baltic 1717; v.-adm. 1718.

Biography

James Littleton’s grandfather, Thomas, was a younger brother of Edward Littleton, M.P., 1st Baron Lyttleton of Mounslow,4 whose daughter and heir, Anne, married her kinsman Sir Thomas Littleton, 2nd Bt. Their son Sir Thomas Littleton, 3rd Bt., Speaker of the House of Commons and treasurer of the navy, died without issue in 1710, making James his eventual heir. After a successful career in the navy, Littleton was returned three times as a Whig for Weymouth, for which he sat in Anne’s last Parliament, after being twice unseated on petition. He did not stand in 1715, when his son succeeded him at Weymouth, but, after further service afloat in 1717, he was brought in on the Admiralty interest for Queenborough in 1722. He died shortly afterwards, on 3 Feb. 1723, and was buried at North Ockendon, six admirals supporting the pall.5

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Romney R. Sedgwick

Notes

• 1. Misc. Gen. et Her. (ser. 3), i. 37, 72-73.
• 2. Lic. (Vic. Gen.) to marry 31 Oct. 1667.
• 3. CSP Dom. 1689-90, p. 396.
• 4. Vis. Surr. 1662-68 (Harl. Soc. lv), 74; Salop Arch. Soc. Trans. (ser. 4), iii. 302-32.
• 5. Morant, Essex, i. 103.