SHIPPEN, WILLIAM, second son of Rev. William Shippen DD, Rector of Stockport, Lancs.; bapt. 30 Jul 1673; adm.; KS 1688; elected to Trinity Coll. Cambridge 1691, adm. pens. 26 Jun 1691, aged 18, scholar 8 Apr 1692, matr. 1691/2; BA 1694/5; adm. Middle Temple 23 Nov 1693, called to bar 19 May 1699; MP Bramber 29 Dec 1707 – 15 Jan 1709, 8 Dec 1710-3, Saltash 1713-5, Newton (Lancs. ) from 1715; wrote satirical verses against the Whigs 1708; a Commissioner of Public Accounts and for stating Army Debts 1711-4; a prominent member of the “October Club”; opposed the offer of a reward for the apprehension of the Pretender 1714; sent to the Tower for drawing attention to George I’s ignorance of “our language and constitution” 4 Dec 1718; became one of the recognised Jacobite leaders in the House of Commons; moved the reduction of the Civil List 1727; opposed Walpole’s excise scheme 1733; refused to vote for the removal of Walpole 1741; “Downright” Shippen was more remarkable for his courage and incorruptibility than for any superior eloquence or talent; a pioneer of constitutional opposition in the House of Commons; lic. to m. 17 Jul 1712 Frances, sister of Bertram Stote (qv); d. 1 May 1743. DNB.

DOLBEN, SIR GILBERT, BART., eldest son of John Dolben (elected Oxford 1640, qv); b. 16 Nov 1658; adm.; KS 1671; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1674, matr. 18 Jul 1674, aged 15, Westminster Student 22 Dec 1674 - void 1679; adm. Inner Temple, called to bar 28 Nov 1680, Bencher 1706, Treasurer 1721; MP Ripon Mar 1684/5 - Jul 1687, Peterborough Jan 1688/9 - Jul 1698, Jan 1700/1 - Sep 1710, Yarmouth (Isle of Wight) Oct 1710 - Jan 1714/5; Puisne Judge, Court of Common Pleas, Ireland 24 Jun 1701-20; created baronet 1 Apr 1704; in the debate on the Aylesbury case in Jan 1704 Dolben maintained the exclusive jurisdiction of the House of Commons in election questions; mentioned by John Dryden (qv) in the postscript to his translation of the Aeneid; m. Anne, dau. of Tanfield Mulso, Finedon, Northants.; d. 22 Oct 1722. DNB.

DUNDAS, SIR DAVID, third son of James Dundas, Ochtertyre, Perthshire, Writer to the Signet, and Elizabeth, dau. of William Graham, Airth, Stirlingshire; b. 24 Jan 1799; adm. 29 Jan 1810; KS 1812; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1816, matr. 25 May 1816, Westminster Student; BA 1820; MA 1822; adm. Inner Temple, called to bar 7 Feb 1823, Bencher 1840, Treasurer 1853; QC Apr 1840; MP (Whig/Liberal) Sutherlandshire Apr 1840 - Jul 1852, Mar 1861 - May 1867; Solicitor-General 10 Jul 1846 - Mar 1848, resigning on grounds of health; knighted 4 Feb 1847; Judge Advocate-General 30 May 1849 - Feb 1852; Privy Councillor 29 Jun 1849; inherited Ochtertyre estate 1842; Trustee, British Museum 1861-7; Busby Trustee 5 May 1855-75; Chairman of committee chosen at meeting of OWW held in Jun 1860 to consider the question of the removal of the School into the country; presented a small collection of Greek and Roman coins to the School 1873; d. unm. 30 Mar 1877. DNB.

LEWIS, ERASMUS, son of Rev. George Lewis, Vicar of Abergwili, Carmarthenshire, and Margaret, dau. of Sir Thomas Stepney, Kt; bap 29 Apr 1671; adm.; KS 1686; elected to Trinity Coll. Cambridge 1690, adm. pens. 28 Jun 1690, aged 18, scholar 24 May 1691; BA 1693/4; Master of Free School, Sevenoaks, Kent 1696/7; travelled on Continent; Secretary to Earl of Manchester, Ambassador at Paris 1701; Chief Clerk, Secretary of State’s Office Jan – May 1702, Under-Secretary May 1704 – Sep 1714; Secretary to Embassy, Brussels, in 1708; MP Lostwithiel 1713-5; lost his official post when Whigs came into power 1714; subsequently employed as Steward to his former political patron Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford; friend of Swift, Pope, Gay, Arbuthnot and Matthew Prior (qv); m. 1 Oct 1724 Anne, widow of Thomas Bateman, St. Martin’s in the Fields, London (and stepmother of Edmund Bateman (qv)), and dau. of --- Jennings; d. 10 Jan 1754. Buried East Cloister, Westminster Abbey. DNB.

KENDALL, JAMES, brother of Thomas Kendall (qv); b. 1647; adm. 10 Jul 1658; KS (aged 13) 1661; adm. Middle Temple 27 Apr 1666, Lincoln’s Inn 28 Nov 1666; MP West Looe Apr 1685 – Feb 1689/90, 1695-1702, Lostwithiel 17 Jan 1706 and from 17 Jan 1708; Governor of Barbados 1690-4; a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty 24 Feb 1696- Jun 1699; d. 10 Jul 1708. Buried North Aisle, Westminster Abbey.

MITCHELL, JOHN, son of David Mitchell, Carshalton House, Surrey, and Jamaica, West Indies, plantation owner, and Anne Hewitt Smith; b. Jamaica 1781; adm.; in school list 1795; KS 1796; probably Mitchell who played cricket v. Eton at Lords’s 8 Aug 1799; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 5 Feb 1800; BA 1804; MA 1808; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 1803, called to bar 1808; MP Kingston upon Hull 1818-26; of Doune Lodge, Perthshire; m. 11 Sep 1824 Eliza, eldest dau. of John Elliott, Pimlico Lodge, Westminster, porter brewer; d. 24 Jun 1827 [ or 29 Aug 1859 ?].

FINCH, HON. CHARLES, second son of Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Aylesford (qv); b. 4 Jun 1752; adm.; in school list Jun 1764; KS 1765; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1769, matr. 24 May 1769, Westminster Student 23 Dec 1769 - void 11 Nov 1772 on election as Fellow All Souls; Fellow, All Souls Coll., 1772; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 16 May 1772; MP Castle Rising 2 Feb 1775 - May 1777, Maidstone 16 May 1777-80; m. 28 Dec 1778 Jane, eldest dau. of Watkin Wynne (qv); d. 17 Dec 1819.

FINCH, HON. EDWARD, fourth son of Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Aylesford (qv); b. 26 Apr 1756; adm. 27 May 1766; KS 1768; Capt. of the School 1772; elected head to Trinity Coll. Cambridge 1773, adm. pens. 9 Jun 1773, scholar 22 Apr 1774, matr. Lent 1774; BA 1777; adm. Inner Temple year 1775/6; Cornet, 27th Light Dragoons 27 Dec 1778; Lieut., 87th Foot 7 Oct 1779; Lieut. and Capt., 2nd Foot Guards 5 Feb 1783; Capt. and Lieut. -Col., 3 Oct 1792; 2nd Maj., 19 Nov 1800, 1st Maj., 18 Jun 1801 - Apr 1808; Brevet Col., 3 May 1796; Maj. -Gen., 1 Jan 1801; Lieut. -Gen., 25 Apr 1808; Col. . 54th Foot 3 Aug 1808 – Sep 1809, 22nd Foot from 23 Sep 1809; Gen., 12 Aug 1819; travelling in Italy 1787; served in Flanders 1793-5, Ireland 1798, and on expedition to The Helder 1799; commanded the cavalry under Abercromby in Egypt 1801, and the Brigade of Guards at Bremen 1806 and on expedition to Copenhagen 1807; MP Cambridge 11 May 1789 - Nov 1819; Groom of the Bedchamber to Kings George III, George IV and William IV 27 Apr 1802 - 20 Jun 1837; d. 27 Oct 1843. DNB.

MURRAY, WILLIAM, 1ST EARL OF MANSFIELD, fourth son of David Murray, 5th Viscount Stormont (S), and Margery, only child of David Scott, Scotstarvet, Fifeshire; b. 2 Mar 1704/5; adm. May 1718; for his journey from Scotland to Westminster on back of his pony, and for some curious items in the account of monies disbursed on his behalf before and after admission, see Lord Campbell, Lives of the Chief Justices, ii, 313-6; KS (Capt. ) 1719; elected head to Christ Church, Oxford 1723, matr. 18 Jun 1723, Westminster Student 24 Dec 1723 – void 29 Jun 1737; BA 1727; MA 1730; defeated William Pitt (Earl of Chatham) in competition for prize offered by University for a Latin poem on the death of George I; Grand Tour; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 23 Apr 1724, called to bar 23 Nov 1730, Bencher 15 Dec 1742, Treasurer 1744; practised in Court of Chancery, and within two years of call had appeared in three appeal cases before House of Lords; KC 1742; Solicitor-Gen., 27 Nov 1742 – Apr 1754; MP Boroughbridge 29 Nov 1742 – 8 Nov 1756; his success in the House of Commons was as brilliant as his success at the bar, and he came to be regarded as the ablest government spokesman in the House; to discredit him, an old story was raked up about his toasting the Pretender in the company of James Johnson (adm. 1717/8, qv) and Andrew Stone (qv), but the Privy Council reported that there was no foundation for the charge; it was subsequently the subject of a debate in the House of Lords on 22 Mar 1753, but the Duke of Bedford’s motion for the production of the proceedings before the Privy Council was rejected by 122 votes to 5, and no further enquiry was made (Campbell, ii, 370-6; Walpole, Letters, ed. Toynbee, iii, 148; the papers relating to the charge of toasting are in the British Library, Newcastle MSS 33050, ff. 200-368); Attorney-Gen., 9 Apr 1754 – Nov 1756; defended the Duke of Newcastle’s administration against attacks by Pitt in the House of Commons; on the death in 1756 of Sir Dudley Ryder, Lord Chief Justice, Murray claimed the vacant post and a peerage; Lord Chief Justice of England 8 Nov 1756 – 4 Jun 1788; created Baron Mansfield 8 Nov 1756; Privy Councillor 19 Nov 1756; held seals of Chancellor of the Exchequer Apr – Jun 1757, Sep – Dec 1767; accepted cabinet seat in Duke of Newcastle’s second administration, without office but with disposal of the Scottish patronage, Jul 1757; created Earl of Mansfield 31 Oct 1776, with special remainder to Louisa, wife of his nephew David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont (S) (qv); owing to his approval of the Roman Catholic Relief Bill of 1778, his house in Bloomsbury Square was sacked and burned by the Gordon Rioters 7 Jun 1780; the loss of his library and MSS was lamented by William Cowper (qv) in some charming verses (Works, ed. Southey, viii, 322-3); spoke for last time in House of Lords 23 Mar 1784; after 1788 lived in retirement at Caen Wood, Highgate; received a new creation as Earl of Mansfield 1 Aug 1792, with special remainder to his nephew David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont (S) (qv); the position which he held for many years as a Cabinet minister was anomalous; in Feb 1775 he stated in the House of Lords that “he had been a Cabinet Minister part of the late reign, and the whole of the present”, but that he had ceased “to act as an efficient Cabinet minister” shortly before the formation of the Rockingham ministry (Parliamentary History, xviii, 274-5); twice refused post of Lord Chancellor, but acted as Speaker of House of Lords Jan 1770 – Jan 1771 and Feb – Dec 1783; as a parliamentary speaker Pitt was his only rival; by birth a Jacobite and by association a Tory, his politics were more or less dominated by his legal interests; his reputation as a statesman is somewhat blurred by his support of the coercing of the American colonies; as an advocate known as “the silver-tongued Murray”; his ascendancy as Lord Chief Justice is indicated by the claim that during the thirty-two years that he held office there were only two cases in which his opinion was not unanimously adopted by his colleagues, and that only two of his judgments were reversed on appeal (Campbell, ii, 395-6); Mansfield’s charges to juries on the law of libel made him unpopular with contemporary public opinion, and he was violently attacked by Junius; the founder of modern commercial law and one of the greatest of common law judges; as a young man a friend of Pope, who dedicated to him his Sixth Epistle of the First Book of Horace, and cdelebrated his charms in Book IV, Ode I; Busby Trustee 25 Feb 1741/2; m. 20 Sep 1738 Lady Elizabeth Finch, seventh dau. of Daniel Finch, 6th Earl of Winchilsea and 2nd Earl of Nottingham (qv); d. 20 Mar 1793. Buried North Transept, Westminster Abbey (monument), having expressed a desire in his will to be buried there on account of “the love I bear to the place of my early education”. DNB.