Sir John Stonhouse, 3rd Baronet

Sir John Stonhouse, 3rd Baronet (c.1672–1733) was an English politician.^[1]

Life

He was the eldest son of Sir John Stonhouse, 2nd Baronet of Radley by his wife Martha Brigges, and was educated at The Queen's College, Oxford and the Inner Temple. Elected Member of Parliament for Berkshire in December 1701, he held the seat for the rest of his life, as a Tory.^[1]

Radley Hall, now part of Radley College, built in the 1720s for Sir John Stonhouse

From 1721, Stonhouse had Radley Hall built.^[2] The work was carried out by the Oxford masons Bartholomew Peisley III and William Townesend, to 1725.^[3][4]

Family

Stonhouse married twice. By his first wife Mary Mellish he had two daughters, of whom Martha married Arthur Vansittart of Shottesbrook, and was mother of Robert Vansittart, Henry Vansittart and Arthur Vansittart, MP for Berkshire.^[5][6][7] His second wife was Penelope, daughter of Sir Robert Dashwood, 1st Baronet. They had nine children. Of those, three sons (John, William and James) in succession held the baronetcy. One of the daughters, Penelope, married John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower, as her second husband; another, Catherine, married Robert Lee, 4th Earl of Lichfield.^[6] Anne married Sir George Bowyer, 3rd Baronet and was mother of Sir George Bowyer, 5th Baronet.^[8]

Radley Hall descended to a granddaughter of the 3rd Baronet, Penelope, Lady Rivers. She was the daughter of Penelope, by her first husband, Sir Henry Atkins, 4th Baronet of Clapham; she married George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers. Sir James Stonhouse died unmarried in 1792, leaving the Hall to Lady Rivers. Under the terms of the will, when she died in 1795, it passed to Sir George Bowyer, 5th Baronet.^[9][10]

Notes

1. "Stonhouse, Sir John, 3rd Bt. (?1672–1733), of Radley, Berks., History of Parliament Online". Retrieved 16 June 2015.
2. "RBH: History of Radley Hall, Berkshire (Oxfordshire)". Retrieved 16 June 2015.
3. Leach, Peter. "Townesend, William". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/38071. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
4. Howard Colvin (1978). A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840. John Murray. p. 630. ISBN 0 7195 3328 7.
5. "Vansittart, Arthur (?1727–1804), of Shottesbrook, Berks., History of Parliament Online". Retrieved 16 June 2015.
6. William Betham (1801). The Baronetage of England: Or The History of the English Baronets, and Such Baronets of Scotland, as are of English Families; with Genealogical Tables, and Engravings of Their Coats of Arms. Burrell and Bransby. p. 318.
7. Embree, Ainslie T. "Vansittart, Henry". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28103. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
8. Owen, C. H. H. "Bowyer, Sir George". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/3089. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
9. John Burke; Sir Bernard Burke (1844). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland and Scotland. J. R. Smith. p. 27.
10. 'Parishes: Radley', in A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 4, ed. William Page and P H Ditchfield (London, 1924), pp. 410–416 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4/pp410-416 [accessed 16 June 2015].