BASTARD, Edmund (1758-1816), of Sharpham, nr. Totnes, Devon.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

5 Oct. 1787 - 1812

Family and Education

b. 7 Feb. 2nd 1758, 2nd s. of William Bastard of Kitley by Anne, da. of Thomas Worsley† of Hovingham Hall, Yorks.; bro. of John Pollexfen Bastard*. educ. Eton 1766-74; M. Temple 1775. m. 1 July 1783, Jane, da. and h. of Capt. Philemon Pownall, RN, of Sharpham, 3s. suc. bro. to Kitley 1816.

Offices Held

Maj. E. Devon militia 1787, lt.-col. 1798.

Biography

Immediately before and for a few years after his return for Dartmouth in 1787 on the Holdsworth interest which, as one of the trustees executors of the deceased Member and patron, he managed until Arthur Howe Holdsworth* came of age in 1801, Bastard was regarded with doubt and suspicion by government head-counters. Even before his election, George Rose had urged Pitt to drive him into open opposition by depriving him of borough patronage, rather than ‘have him as a cool, doubtful friend, for the sake of recommending to the offices’, advice doubtless inspired by the truculent independence shown by Bastard’s elder brother, Member for Devon.1 No such drastic action was taken, however, and Bastard voted with government on the Regency question, when his brother took the other side. Even so, he was marked ‘doubtful’ in the ministerial election forecast of 1790, but he returned as his colleague a devoted supporter of Pitt and proved a far more docile Member than his brother, making no mark in the House and attending infrequently.

His name appears in none of the surviving division lists of this period before 1804, though in April 1791 he was listed hostile to the repeal of the Test Act in Scotland. His only known speeches were as spokesman for his mercantile constituents in the Newfoundland fishery trade against the Newfoundland court bill, 26 May 1791, and for inquiry into the decline of the trade, 26 Apr. 1792. A defaulter ordered to attend on 20 Jan. and again on 24 Nov. 1795, he was classed as ‘hopeful’ in the ministerial election forecast for 1796. Granted six weeks’ leave to attend to private business, 8 Dec. 1796, and three months for the recovery of his health, 3 Apr. 1797, he evidently took no part in the ‘armed neutrality’ venture of 1797, in which his brother was prominent.2 As lieutenant-colonel of the East Devon militia he assisted his brother in suppressing the revolt in the Plymouth dockyards in 1799.

Placed under ‘Addington’ in the government list of May 1804, Bastard was listed as an opponent of Pitt’s additional force bill in the Morning Chronicle of 21 June, but he may have been included in error for his brother. In the September list he was reckoned ‘doubtful Pitt’ and in July 1805 he was transferred to the ‘doubtful Sidmouth’ category. He voted for the repeal of the Additional Force Act, 30 Apr. 1806, was classed as ‘friendly’ to the abolition of the slave trade after the election of 1806 and was reported shortly afterwards to be well disposed towards Grenville as prime minister.3 Lord Howick duly requested his attendance, but he was unable to comply, being detained, he claimed on 28 Dec. 1806, by illness at Bath.4

No vote can be attributed with certainty to Bastard in the 1807 Parliament: ‘E. Bastard’ is listed among the minority who voted to extend the powers of the civil list inquiry, 10 Feb. 1812, but his brother spoke in the preceding debate and seems the more likely candidate. George Rose, commenting on a complaint from Bastard concerning Newfoundland patronage, told Perceval, 2 Jan. 1810, that ‘he very seldom attends, I believe; and as his elder brother is adverse, his occasional support I suspect is reluctant’.5 The Whigs were ‘hopeful’ of his support on the Walcheren question in mid-March 1810, but did not receive it.

Bastard made way for his eldest son at the dissolution of 1812, and on his brother’s death abroad in April 1816 succeeded to the main family property, only to die himself on 10 June, within days of the arrival home of John’s remains.6

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: David R. Fisher

Notes

  • 1. PRO 30/8/173, f. 164.
  • 2. CJ, l. 74; li. 103; lii. 180, 450.
  • 3. Fortescue mss, Newport to Grenville, 11 Dec. 1806.
  • 4. Grey mss.
  • 5. Add. 49185, f. 55.
  • 6. Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post, 13 June 1816.