Eardley-Wilmot, John, 1750-1815

Eardley-Wilmot was a politician and author. He received his B.A. from University College at Oxford in 1769. He represented Tiverton, Devonshire in parliament, 1776-1784; and represented Coventry in Parliament, 1784-1796. In 1778, he wrote "Short Defense of the Opposition." In 1783, he was appointed to inquire into the claims of American Loyalists for their losses suffered during the war; and in 1790, organized the Freemason's Hall Committee for the relief of French refugees. He was instrumental in the founding of King's College in Nova Scotia.

John Eardley Eardley-Wilmot (1750-1815) was a lawyer, politician, and writer. He was called to the bar in 1773 and became a master in chancery in 1781. In 1776 he entered parliament as MP for Tiverton, voting in opposition to the government's policy towards the American colonies. In 1783 he was appointed parliamentary commissioner to examine American loyalists' requests for compensation. Eardley-Wilmot also had literary, antiquarian, and scientific interests: he became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1779 and the Society of Antiquaries in 1791. He published a memoir of his father's life as well as a biography of Bishop John Hough. He died at his home, Bruce Castle, in 1815.

Epithet: formerly Wilmot; Master in Chancery

John Eardley-Wilmot was the second son of Lord Chief Justice Sir John Eardley-Wilmot. Born in 1750, he graduated from University College, Oxford in 1769, was chosen fellow of All Souls' College, and was called to the Inner Temple bar in 1773. From 1781 to 1804 he held a Mastership in Chancery. He served in Parliament from 1776 to 1796, first as M.P. for Tiverton and later for Coventry.

A Whig, in 1783 he was appointed head of the Commission for Inquiring into the Losses, Services and Claims of the American Loyalists, reporting on claims for compensation filed by Loyalists after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War. Eardley-Wilmot published his "Historical View of the Commission....." in 1815. He organized the Freemasons' Hall Committee for the relief of French refugees in 1790.

In addition to his professional and political activities, Eardley-Wilmot was a book collector and antiquarian whose materials were essential to John Raynor's edition of Glanville's Tractatus de Legibus (1780), and who furthered the British Museum's purchase of the Lansdowne manuscript collection in 1807. He was also an early supporter of King's College in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Other publications by Eardley-Wilmot include Memoirs of the Life of the Right Hon. Sir John Eardley Wilmot, Knt., with some original letters (1802, 1811) and The Life of the Reverend John Hough, D.D..... (1813).

Eardley-Wilmot died at Bruce Castle on June 26, 1815. His only son, John, was created Sir John Eardley Eardley-Wilmot in 1822, appointed lieutenant-governor of Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) in 1843, and died in Hobart in 1847.