Capt. James Cornewall, RN, MP

Family and Education bap. 17 Nov. 1698, 4th s. of Col. Henry Cornewall, M.P., of Moccas Court, Herefs., being 2nd s. by his 2nd w. Susanna, da. and coh. of Sir John Williams, 2nd Bt., of Elham, Kent; bro. of Velters Cornewall and half-bro. of Henry Cornewall. unm. suc. fa. to Welsh estates 1717.

Offices Held Capt. R.N. 1724.

Biography James Cornewall contested Weobley unsuccessfully in 1730, was returned there in 1732, lost his seat in 1734, and regained it on petition in 1737. At sea for most of his time as Member, he is recorded as having voted in only two divisions, those on the Spanish convention in March 1739 and on the place bill in January 1740, on both occasions with the Administration. On 2 Mar. 1740 he spoke in favour of the seamen’s bill (see Wager, Sir Charles). He did not stand in 1741 and was killed in action at the battle of Toulon, 11 Feb. 1744. In 1747 the House of Commons addressed the King for a memorial to him. ‘In the present dearth of glory’, Horace Walpole wrote, ‘he is canonized; though, poor man, he had been tried twice the year before for cowardice’.1 A monument to him was erected at the public expense in Westminster Abbey.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754 Author: A. N. Newman Notes 1. To Conway, 8 June 1747; cf. Richmond, Navy in War of 1739-48, i. 150, 167-8.