Sir Baldwyn Leighton, 8th Baronet

Lady Leighton and her son Bryan, from an 1860s album made by her aunt-in-law.

Sir Baldwyn Leighton, 8th Baronet (27 October 1836 – 22 January 1897)[1] was an English Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1877 to 1885.

Leighton was the son of Sir Baldwin Leighton, 7th Baronet and his wife Mary Parker, daughter of Thomas Netherton Parker of Sweeney Hall, Shropshire. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 1859. He served in the rank of cornet in the South Salopian Yeomanry Cavalry[2] and was a J.P. and Deputy Lieutenant for Shropshire. In 1871, he inherited the baronetcy on the death of his father. Leighton classed himself as a liberal Conservative and published several pamphlets on "Poor Law" and "Labour" for example. He also published "Letters of the late Edward Denison MP".[3]

In August 1877, Leighton was elected at a by-election as a Member of Parliament (MP) for South Shropshire.[4] He held the seat until the constituency was abolished in 1885.[1][4]

Leighton died at the age of 60 and was buried in the parish churchyard of his family seat, Loton Park, at Alberbury, Shropshire.

Leighton married Hon. Eleanor Leicester Warren (1841-1914), daughter of George Warren, 2nd Baron de Tabley. Their son Bryan Leighton succeeded to the baronetcy. Leighton's brother Stanley Leighton was also a Shropshire MP.

  1. ^ a b Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)
  2. ^ Gladstone, E.W. (1953). The Shropshire Yeomanry 1795-1945, The Story of a Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. The Whitethorn Press. p. 50.
  3. ^ Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886
  4. ^ a b Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [First published 1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 449. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.