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Alexander LuttrellMP
Arms of Luttrell: Or, a bend between six martlets sable
Member of Parliament for Minehead
In office 1727–1737
Personal details
Born	10 May 1705 Dunster, Somerset, England
Died	4 June 1737(1737-06-04) (aged 32) Dunster, Somerset, England
Resting place	Priory Churchyard of St. George, Dunster, West Somerset District, Somerset, England
Spouse(s)	Margaret Trevelyan, married 18 April 1724
Children	One daughter
Parent(s)	Alexander Luttrell (1663–1711) and Dorothy Yarde
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford
Occupation	Landowner

Alexander Luttrell (10 May 1705 – 4 June 1737) of Dunster Castle, Somerset, was an English politician and land-owner who served as Member of Parliament for his family's pocket borough of Minehead from 1727 until his death. He was the last in the male line of the Luttrell family, which had owned Dunster Castle since 1376.

Early life and family

Alexander Luttrell was born on 10 May 1705, the eldest son of Colonel Alexander Luttrell, of Dunster Castle, by his wife Dorothy Yarde, daughter of Edward Yarde of Churston Ferrers, Devon. He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford in 1722, where he was sent with his younger brother Francis.

On 18 April 1724 he married Margaret Trevelyan at St Anne, Soho, London, Westminster, England, daughter of Sir John Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet of Nettlecombe, Somerset, by whom he had a daughter and sole heiress Margaret Luttrell.

Career and later life

The Luttrell family's ownership of the manor and castle of Dunster gave them a "natural interest" over the seat of Minehead, thus a Pocket Borough, and he was returned as a Tory Member of Parliament for that borough shortly after coming of age. In the House of Commons he generally voted against the Government. He held the seat until his death on 4 June 1737. He was buried on 16 June 1737.

Following his death his estate was in a poor financial condition and was put into Chancery. His widow remarried in 1741 to Edward Dyke of Tetton, and cared for her young daughter as well as Luttrell's niece, Anne Luttrell (daughter of Alexander Luttrell's brother Francis), and Dyke's niece and heiress Elizabeth Dyke. Mrs Dyke died in 1764. Margaret Luttrell was Luttrell's heiress and, when she married Henry Fownes, he inherited her estates and adopted the surname and arms of Luttrell as required by his father-in-law's will. Fownes served as Member of Parliament for the Luttrell family's pocket borough of Minehead.

Portraits

Several portraits of Alexander Luttrell are listed by Maxwell Lyte (1909), but there is some difficulty in identifying him due to his similar appearance to his brother Francis. Maxwell Lyte lists a 1729 portrait of him by John Vanderbank at Dunster Castle, and others existed at one time at Nettlecombe Court and Bathealton Court. Portraits of his wife also existed at Dunster in 1909, and two portraits of her second husband Edward Dyke existed at Pixton at that time also. One portrait of Edward Dyke hangs at Dunster Castle in 2015.

• Alexander Luttrell (1705-1737)
• Margaret Luttrell (Trevelyan)(1704-1764)
• Margaret Fownes Luttrell (1726-1766)
• Edward Dyke (1688-1746)

See also

• Feudal barony of Dunster

References

Citations

1. Matthews (1970)
2. Maxwell Lyte, Sir Henry Churchill, A History of Dunster and of the Families of Mohun & Luttrell (London, England, The St. Catherine Press Ltd., 1909), Page 222.
3. Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). "Luttrell, Alexander" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
4. Westminster Church of England Parish Registers, City of Westminster Archives Centre, Westminster, London, England, Church of England (Westminster, London, England).
5. Matthews (1970)
6. Maxwell Lyte (1909), p. 224
7. Matthews (1970)
8. Maxwell Lyte (1909), p. 224
9. Maxwell Lyte (1909), pp. 225-227
10. Maxwell-Lyte (1909), p. 224 ; see the following page for a copy of the Vanderbank portrait.
11. See also National Trust, Dunster Castle

Bibliography

• S. Matthews (1970). "Luttrell, Alexander (1705-37), of Dunster Castle and East Quantoxhead, nr. Minehead, Som.", The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick
• H.C. Maxwell-Lyte (1909). A History of Dunster. (Two volumes: one and two)

• 1705 births
• 1737 deaths
• Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
• British MPs 1727–1734
• British MPs 1734–1741
• 18th-century English landowners
• Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
• Luttrell family (of Dunster)