Ayscoghe Boucherett

Ayscoghe Boucherett
Portrait by Thomas Lawrence, c. 1795
Member of Parliament
for Grimsby
In office
1796–1803
Serving with William Mellish (1796–1802) and John Henry Loft (1802–1803)
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Personal details
Born(1755-04-16)16 April 1755
Died15 September 1815(1815-09-15) (aged 60)
NationalityBritish
Spouse
Emelia Crockatt
(m. 1789)
Children4
Residence(s)Willingham House, Lincolnshire[1]

Lieutenant-Colonel Ayscoghe Boucherett JP DL (/ˈæskju/; 16 April 1755 – 15 September 1815) was a British landowner, businessman and politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Great Grimsby from 1796 to 1803.

Born into a family of the Lincolnshire landed gentry, Boucherett became involved in local politics in Lincolnshire, and (owing mainly to his marriage) with artistic and mercantile circles in London. He was the chairman of the Grimsby Haven Company, which oversaw the reopening and expansion of Grimsby's first dock. He was a friend of the artist Sir Thomas Lawrence and the proprietor of Willingham, Lincolnshire, where he constructed his country seat, Willingham House, in 1790. For his investment in the Haven Company, he received the support of Lord Yarborough, one of its main investors and a principal land-owner in Grimsby; owing largely to Lord Yarborough's patronage, Boucherett was returned as the MP for that borough at the 1796 election. He was not a frequent voter, but used his position to further the interests of his corporation. Nonetheless, the company met with financial difficulties after it opened the Harbour in 1800. In 1803, Boucherett resigned his seat in favour of Yarborough's heir and pursued a quieter political life. He died in a carriage accident in 1815.

  1. ^ The Gentleman's Magazine, 1815, part ii, p. 371