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Jonathan Rashleigh (19 January 1693 – 24 November 1764) of Menabilly, Cornwall, was a British landowner and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons for 37 years from 1727 to 1764.

Early life

Rashleigh was born on 19 January 1693 at Menabilly, near Fowey in Cornwall. He was the fourth and youngest son of Jonathan Rashleigh (1642–1702), MP by his second wife, Sarah (née Carew) Rashleigh. His sister, Sarah Rashleigh was married to the Rev. Carolus Pole, brother of Sir William Pole.

His maternal grandfather was Sir John Carew, 3rd Baronet, M.P., of Antony, Cornwall.

Career

Rashleigh was appointed Recorder of Fowey in 1714. At the 1727 British general election he was returned unopposed on the family interest as Tory Member of Parliament (MP) for Fowey. He was returned again unopposed at the general elections of 1734, 1741, 1747, 1754 and 1761. He is not recorded as ever speaking and never held an office or pension.

Inheritance and estates

He was heir to his brother Philip Rashleigh, a supporter of the Jacobite pretender who died in 1736 without issue, and his half first-cousin Sir Coventry Carew, 6th Baronet of Antony, who died 1748, from whom he co-inherited with his great-nephew Reginald Pole Carew, several manors in Cornwall, including East Antony, Manely Durnford, Langunnet, Little Deviock, Sheviock, Nancolleth, Pensignance, Penventon, Helsett, Drewsteignton and Notter.

After the death of Lady Carew in 1762 he inherited further properties, namely Roserrow in St Minver and Davidstow, Tregollen in St Minver and Davidstow, Trelander in St Minver and Davidstow, Grays in St Minver and Davidstow, Rosebenault in St Minver and Davidstow, Newham stream works and St Veep woods.

Personal life

On 11 June 1728, Rashleigh was married to Mary Clayton, daughter of Sir William Clayton, 1st Baronet. He and his wife had nine sons and four daughters, including:

• Philip Rashleigh (1729–1811), who married his first cousin, Jane Pole (1720–1795), only daughter of the Rev. Carolus Pole (third son of Sir John Pole of Shute).
• William Rashleigh (1733–c. 1747), who died unmarried.
• Mary Rashleigh (1737–1806), who married William Stackhouse.
• Rachel Rashleigh (1739-1829), who married John Gould MD.
• Rev. Jonathan Rashleigh (1740–1806), who married Catherine Stackhouse, daughter of Rev. William Stackhouse of Trehane., whose descendants continued the Menabilly line.
• John Rashleigh of Penquite (1742–1803), who married Katherine Battie, daughter and co-heir of William Battie, Esq. M.D.

Rashleigh died on 24 November 1764 and the estates passed to his eldest son Philip. Upon Philip's death in 1811, as he had no issue, the family estates passed to Rashleigh's grandson William Rashleigh (the eldest son of his third son), MP for Fowey and Sheriff of Cornwall.

Descendants

Through his fourth son, John Rashleigh, he was a grandfather of Sir John Colman Rashleigh, 1st Baronet of Prideaux, Cornwall, and great-grandfather of Sir Colman Rashleigh, 2nd Baronet, MP for East Cornwall.

References

1. ^ "RASHLEIGH, Jonathan (1693-1764), of Menabilly, Cornw". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
2. ^ Burke, John (1833). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland. p. 496. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
3. "RASHLEIGH, Jonathan (1693-1764), of Menabilly, Cornw". History of Parliament Online (1754-1790). Retrieved 29 March 2019.
4. Archives of Rashleigh family of Menabilly, early 13th century to 1989, Cornwall Record Office R/3737 – R/5883
5. The London Magazine, Or, Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer. R. Baldwin. 1770. p. 276. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
6. Rashleigh, Rachel (1803). "The Will of Philip Rashleigh of Tywardreath, 1803" (PDF). Cornwall OPC Database. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
7. Thorne, R. G. (1986). The House of Commons. Boydell & Brewer. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-436-52101-0. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
8. ^ Lodge, Edmund (1859). The Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage and Baronetage: Containing the Family Histories of the Nobility. With the Arms of the Peers. Hurst and Blackett. p. 802. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
9. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 15th Edition, ed. Pirie-Gordon, H., London, 1937, pp. 1891–3, Rashleigh of Menabilly
10. Mair, LLD (Edited by), Robert H. (1879). Debrett's Illustrated Baronetage and Knightage (and Companionage) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: To Which is Added Much Information Respecting the Immediate Family Connection of Baronets. London: Dean & Son Publishers. p. 374. Retrieved 28 February 2020. {{cite book}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
11. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 6)

• 1693 births
• 1764 deaths
• Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Fowey
• British MPs 1727–1734
• British MPs 1734–1741
• British MPs 1741–1747
• British MPs 1747–1754
• British MPs 1754–1761
• British MPs 1761–1768