John Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale

John Freeman - Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale PC, FRS ( born August 18, 1748 in London, † January 16, 1830 ) was a British politician and Speaker of the House (House of Commons ).

Study and career

The son of a lawyer also holds a degree in law and was in 1777 as a lawyer ( barrister ) of the Inner Temple, one of the traditional bar associations London ( Inns of Court ) allowed. His work A Treatise on the Pleadings in Suits in the Court of Chancery by English Bill received wide attention and recognition and was repeatedly reprinted in England and the United States.

Political career

Member of Parliament and Cabinet Member

Freeman - Mitford began his political career in 1788 with the election of deputies of the lower house (House of Commons ). There he found, firstly to 1793 a constituency in Devon. In 1791 he presented an important bill for the rights of the Roman Catholic Church in Great Britain. In 1799 he was elected to represent the constituency of East Looe in Cornwall back in the House.

In 1793 he was the successor of John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon as Solicitor - General for England. In 1799 he followed this up again re-elected as Attorney General after.

Speaker of Parliament, Lord Chancellor of Ireland and a member of the Upper House

In February 1801, he became the first speaker ( Speaker) of the House of Commons the only on 1 January 1801 after the inclusion of Ireland newly created United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In the same year he was also knighted and henceforth led the salutation Sir John Mitford.

However, a year later he became Lord Chancellor of Ireland, in the same time representatives of Lord Chancellor Earl of Eldon. Successor as Speaker of Parliament, Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester. In 1802 he was raised in the hereditary nobility and bore the title of Baron Redesdale. As such, he was also a member of the Upper House (House of Lords).

In February 1806 he was forced to resign from his post as Lord Chancellor of Ireland after Prime Minister William Wyndham Grenville had not even called him the Earl of Eldon in his cabinet. However, unlike the Earl of Eldon he resigned in March 1807 to resume his duties in the Cabinet of the Duke of Portland. However, he remained an active member of the Upper House and was also a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS ).