Sir Edmund Bacon, 5th Baronet

Sir Edmund Bacon, 5th Baronet (7 August 1693 – 4 October 1738), of Gillingham, Norfolk, was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1722 to 1738.

Early life

Bacon was the eldest son of Sir Edmund Bacon, 4th Baronet of Mildenhall, and his first wife Philippa Bacon, daughter of Sir Edmund Bacon, 4th Baronet of Redgrave.[1] He attended school in Beccles and Bishop Stortford and was admitted at Caius College, Cambridge in 1710. He was admitted at Middle Temple in 1714 and from 1716 to 1720 he was a fellow at Cambridge.[2] In 1721, he succeeded his father to the baronetcy. He married Susan Rebow, daughter of Sir Isaac Rebow, of Colchester, on 7 November 1724, at the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace.[1]

Career

At the 1722 British general election, Bacon was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament (MP) for Thetford. He made his first recorded speech on 12 November 1724, when he seconded the Address. He spoke for the Government on the army on 23 November 1724 and 25 January 1727, and on a vote of credit on 12 April 1727. At the 1727 British general election he was returned again for Thetford and continued making contributions. He spoke on the Address on 21 January 1729 and on 13 January 1730, on the army on 29 January 1730 and on Dunkirk on 12 February 1730. He was commended for his wise speech when the salt duty was taken off’ in 1730. He spoke on the Hessians on 3 February 1731 and on foreign affairs on 23 February. 1731. He was seen as an attached servant to Sir Robert Walpole and was duly rewarded. He held a grant of some lighthouses worth £500 a year for a term of years, and in 1733 was shown to have a grant of crown lands at Chatham while his brother held a post in the customs. Bacon was returned unopposed again at the 1734 British general election, In 1737, he spoke against Sir John Barnard's scheme for converting the national debt.[3]

Death and legacy

Bacon died at Bath, Somerset on 4 October 1738,[4] and was buried at Gillingham, Norfolk, two weeks later.[1] He and his wife had a daughter and two sons,[5] and his only surviving son, Edmund, succeeded to the baronetcy.[6]

References

1. Cokayne, George Edward, ed. (1902), Complete Baronetage volume 2 (1625-1649), 2, Exeter: William Pollard and Co, p. 32, retrieved 13 April 2019
2. "Bacon, Edmund (BCN710E)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
3. "BACON, Sir Edmund, 5th Bt. (1693-1738), of Gillingham, Norf". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
4. Kimber, Edward (1771). Richard Johnson (ed.). The Baronetage of England: Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account of All the English Baronets. vol. I. London: Thomas Wotton. p. 11.
5. Debrett, John (1824). Debrett's Baronetage of England. vol. I (5th ed.). London: G. Woodfall. pp. 4–5.
6. Burke, John (1832). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. vol. I (4th ed.). London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley. p. 65.