John Benn (1759 - 1825)

Born 10 Feb 1759 in Cumberland, England

Husband of Margaret Fowke — married 1787 in St James, Piccadilly, London

Descendants

Died 7 Jun 1825 at age 66 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England

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Biography

John was born in Cumberland as John Benn, the only son of William Benn of Moor Row, Whitehaven, Cumberland and his wife Mary, daughter of Timothy Nicholson. He entered the East India Company and in about 1780 he was the assistant resident at Benares, where he made an estimated £80.000 trading in diamonds and opium.[1] a fortune which he invested in land to enlarge the family estates, making his family seat at Warfield.[3]

In 1787 he married Margaret, the daughter of Joseph Fowke and his wife Elizabeth Walsh, at St. James, Piccadilly, London.[2] They had two children, Elizabeth born in 1794 and John Benn-Walsh born in 1798. In 1795 his wife inherited the India-made fortune of her mother's brother Sir John Walsh on condition that they changed the family name to Walsh, and that it would go to her eldest son when he came of age. The legacy included Warfield Park, Berkshire, the Radnorshire manors of Cefnllys and Coed Swydd and a number of farms in eastern Radnorshire. The Benn family assumed the additional name Walsh, by royal licence, in 1795.[3]

He served as High Sheriff of Radnorshire in 1798 and sat as an MP for Bletchingley, Surrey from 1802 to 1806. He was created a baronet on 14 Jun 1804.[3][4]

He died at Cheltenham in 1825 and was succeeded by his son John, the future Lord Ormathwaite.

Sources

• 1. T.H.Bowyer, 'Fowke, Joseph (1716-1800)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.

2. Record Transcription: Westminster Marriages | findmypast.co.uk

3. Sir John Walsh, 1st Baronet - Wikipedia

4. Sir John Benn Walsh, 1st Baronet - the peerage.com/p6004.htm#i60033