Sir Roger Newdigate, 5th Baronet (30 May 1719 – 23 November 1806) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1742 and 1780. He was a collector of antiquities.[1]
Sir Roger Newdigate | |
|---|---|
 Sir Roger Newdigate in the Library at Arbury by Arthur Devis | |
| Member of Parliament for Oxford University | |
| In office 1751–1780 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Hyde |
| Succeeded by | William Dolben |
| Member of Parliament for Middlesex | |
| In office 1742–1747 | |
| Preceded by | William Pulteney |
| Succeeded by | William Beauchamp-Proctor |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Roger Newdigate 30 May 1719 Arbury, Warwickshire, England |
| Died | 23 November 1806 (aged 87) Arbury, Warwickshire, England |
| Political party | Tory |
| Spouses | |
| Residence | Arbury Hall |
| Alma mater | University College, Oxford |
| Profession | Politician, architect |
Early life
editNewdigate was born in Arbury, Warwickshire, the son of Sir Richard Newdigate, 3rd Baronet (who died in 1727) and inherited the title 5th Baronet and the estates of Arbury and of Harefield in Middlesex on the early death of his brother in 1734. He was educated at Westminster School and University College, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1736, and graduated M.A. in 1738;[2] he contributed greatly to the university throughout the remainder of his life. He is best remembered as the founder of the Newdigate Prize on his death[3] and as a collector of antiques, a number of which he donated to the university. The prize for poetry helped make the names of many illustrious writers.
Political career
editFrom 1742 until 1747, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Middlesex, and in 1751, he began a 30-year tenure as an MP for Oxford University.[4]
He lavished attention on the Elizabethan Arbury Hall which he rebuilt over a period of thirty years in splendid Gothic Renaissance style, engaging the services of the architect Henry Couchman.
Private life
editHe married, firstly Sophia Conyers in 1743, and secondly Hesther Margaret Munday in 1776. Both marriages were childless and on his death in 1806 the baronetcy became extinct. Arbury Hall and Harefield passed to Francis Parker (1774–1862) of Kirk Hallam, Derbyshire, a distant cousin of the 5th Baronet, who then adopted the additional name of Newdigate. Francis Parker moved into Arbury Hall and married Lady Barbara Maria Legge, daughter of George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth, in 1820.
Legacy
editSir Roger was immortalised in fiction in George Eliot's Scenes of Clerical Life, where he appears as Sir Christopher Cheverel in Mr Gilfil's Love Story.[5]
References
edit- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
- ^ "Encyclopædia Britannica, Newdigate Prize". Britannica.com. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
- ^ "NEWDIGATE, Sir Roger, 5th Bt. (1719–1806), of Arbury, Warws. and Harefield, Mdx." History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
- ^ Cooke, George Willis. George Eliot: A Critical Study of her Life, Writings and Philosophy. Whitefish: Kessinger, 2004. [1]