Nicholas Lechmere Charlton

Nicholas Lechmere Charlton (18 December 1733 – 20 March 1807), known as Nicholas Lechmere until 1784, was a British politician, MP for Worcester in 1774.

Lechmere was the son of Edmund Lechmere MP (1710–1805), and his first wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Blunden Charlton, 3rd Bt.[1] Edmund Lechmere MP (1747–1798) was Lechmere's younger brother; Sir Anthony Lechmere, 1st Bt. (1766–1849) was his younger half-brother.

He was educated by Mr. Graham at Hackney, and matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1751.[2]

Previously a Captain in the 3rd Foot Guards, he was appointed Colonel of the Worcestershire Militia when that regiment was re-established on 17 June 1770. He resigned the command in 1794.[3]

Following the death in 1773 of Henry Crabb-Boulton, MP for Worcester, Thomas Bates Rous was elected to take his seat in a by-election. However, Rous was unseated on petition for bribery,[4] and in the resulting by-election in February 1774, Lechmere was elected. He was counted by the government as a supporter. He did not contest the October 1774 general election,[1] at which Rous retook the seat.

He succeeded to the estates of his uncle Sir Francis Charlton, 4th Bt., and took the additional name Charlton, in 1784.[1][2]

He resided at Ludford, where for 24 years he was a colonel in the Worcester Militia.[5]

He died on 20 March 1807.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d "LECHMERE, Nicholas (1733-1807), of Hanley Castle, Worcs". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Lechmere, Nicholas (LCMR751N)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. ^ Capt Robert Holden, Historical Records of the 3rd and 4th Battalions of the Worcestershire Regiment, London: Kegan, Paul, Trench, 1887, p. 21, Appendix D.
  4. ^ "ROUS, Thomas Bates (c.1739-99), of Berners St., London". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  5. ^ Shirley, Evelyn Philip (1883). Hanley and the House of Lechmere. p. 60. Retrieved 31 January 2020.