Charles Caesar (Treasurer of the Navy)

For other people named Charles Caesar, see Charles Caesar (disambiguation).

Charles Caesar (21 November 1673 – 2 April 1741) was a British Member of Parliament and a lawyer, a Tory and a Jacobite.

Life

Charles Caesar was the son of Sir Charles Caesar of Benington, Hertfordshire. He was educated at St Catharine's College, Cambridge and admitted at the Middle Temple in 1690.[1] He entered Parliament in 1701 as member for Hertford. This was a borough where his family had considerable influence, but where there was an ongoing dispute over the franchise (the main bone of contention being whether non-resident freemen of the town were entitled to vote). Almost every election ended in a petition to the House of Commons against the result, and the usual outcome was that the cases were decided for partisan reasons rather than on the merits of the case. In 1708, Caesar was defeated at the general election by one Sir Thomas Clarke, and petitioned against the result, though he withdrew his petition before any decision had been reached.

He regained his seat in 1710, and served as Treasurer of the Navy in the Earl of Oxford's administration from 1711 to 1714, being turned out of office on the Hanoverian succession. At the general election of 1715 the Whigs secured a majority and although Caesar was re-elected for Hertford, his opponents (Clarke again being one) petitioned against him, alleging bribery and other illegal practices, and the result was overturned. Though temporarily out of Parliament, Caesar remained active in Tory politics and was a close associate of Oxford, being an intermediary in his attempt to enlist the support of Charles XII of Sweden for the Jacobite cause.

At the next election, in 1722, Caesar again saw his election overturned, sitting for only a few months before the committee deemed him not to have duly elected, and seated Sir Thomas Clarke once more. However, after this setback Caesar stood instead for the county at the following election, and sat as Hertfordshire's MP for most of the rest of his life.

References

  1. "Caesar, Charles (CSR689C)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
Political offices
Preceded by
Robert Walpole
Treasurer of the Navy
1711 1714
Succeeded by
John Aislabie
Parliament of England
Preceded by
William Cowper
Sir William Cowper
Member of Parliament for Hertford
with Thomas Filmer
Richard Goulston 1701-1705
Sir Thomas Clarke 1705-1707

17011707
Succeeded by
Parliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Parliament of England
Member of Parliament for Hertford
with Sir Thomas Clarke

17071708
Succeeded by
Sir Thomas Clarke
William Monson
Preceded by
Sir Thomas Clarke
William Monson
Member of Parliament for Hertford
with Richard Goulston

17101715
Succeeded by
Sir Thomas Clarke
John Boteler
Preceded by
Sir Thomas Clarke
John Boteler
Member of Parliament for Hertford
with Edward Harrison

17221723
Succeeded by
Edward Harrison
Sir Thomas Clarke
Preceded by
Sir Thomas Saunders Sebright
Ralph Freman
Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire
with Sir Thomas Saunders Sebright

17271734
Succeeded by
Sir Thomas Saunders Sebright
William Plumer
Preceded by
Sir Thomas Saunders Sebright
William Plumer
Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire
with William Plumer

17361741
Succeeded by
Jacob Houblon
Charles Gore
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