Robert Benson, 1st Baron Bingley

English Tory politician

The Right HonourableThe Lord BingleyPC
Portrait attributed to Godfrey Kneller

Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 1711–1713
Preceded by	The Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer
Succeeded by	Sir William Wyndham

Personal details
Born	c 1676
Died	(1731-04-09)9 April 1731
Nationality	English
Alma mater	Christ's College, Cambridge
Occupation	politician

Robert Benson, 1st Baron Bingley, PC (c. 1676 – 9 April 1731) was an English Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1702 until 1713 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Bingley and sat in the House of Lords. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1711 to 1713.

Life

Robert Benson was born in Wakefield, the son of Robert Benson of Wrenthorpe. He went to school in London before studying at Christ's College, Cambridge. He served as an alderman of the city of York and was elected Lord Mayor of York for 1707. He was elected Member of Parliament for Thetford in Norfolk from 1702 to 1705, then becoming MP for York from 1705 to 1713.

In 1711, he was sworn of the Privy Council and became Chancellor of the Exchequer until 1713. He was a Director of the South Sea Company from July 1711 to February 1715. In 1713 he was ennobled as Baron Bingley, and became the British ambassador to Spain.

Benson founded the stately home of Bramham Park, near Wetherby. When he died in 1731 he was buried in Westminster Abbey and the title Baron Bingley became extinct, although it was later re-created for his son-in-law. He had married Elizabeth, the daughter of Heneage Finch, and had a son (who predeceased him) and two daughters (one illegitimate). It has often been suggested that Bingley was also the real father of the British soldier, dramatist and politician John Burgoyne, whose debts he cancelled in his will. What was left of his estate, including Bramham Park, went to his daughter Harriet who had married George Fox.

Notes

"Benson, Robert (BN691R)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
Drake, Francis (1736). Eboracum: or, The history and antiquities of the city of York.
^ "BENSON, Robert (1676–1731), of Red Hall, nr. Wakefield; Bramham Hall, Yorks.; and Queen Street, Westminster". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 28 November 2013.

References

Courtney, William Prideaux (1885). "Benson, Robert (1676-1731)" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 4. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

Parliament of England
Preceded bySir Thomas Hanmer, Bt Sir John Wodehouse, Bt	Member of Parliament for Thetford 1702–1705 With: Edmund Soame	Succeeded bySir Thomas Hanmer, Bt Sir John Wodehouse, Bt
Preceded bySir William Robinson, Bt Tobias Jenkins	Member of Parliament for York 1705–1708 With: Sir William Robinson, Bt	Succeeded byParliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded byParliament of England	Member of Parliament for York 1708–1713 With: Sir William Robinson, Bt	Succeeded bySir William Robinson, Bt Robert Fairfax
Political offices
Preceded byThe Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer	Chancellor of the Exchequer 1711–1713	Succeeded bySir William Wyndham, Bt
Preceded byPaul Methuen	Treasurer of the Household 1730–1731	Succeeded byThe Lord De La Warr
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation	Baron Bingley 1713–1731	extinct

v t e Chancellors of the exchequer
England	Eustace of Fauconberg Maunsell Leicester Westminster Chishull W. Giffard G. Giffard Chishull de la Leye Willoughby Benstead Sandale Hotham Stanton Harvington Wodehouse Stratford Ashby Ashton Barnham Somer Somerset Browne Witham Thwaites Witham Fowler Catesby Lovell Berners Cromwell Baker Sackville Mildmay Fortescue Dunbar Caesar Greville Portland Barrett Cottington Colepeper Hyde Ashley Duncombe Ernle Delamer Hampden Montagu Smith Boyle
Great Britain	Boyle Smith Harley Benson Wyndham Onslow Walpole Stanhope Aislabie Pratt Walpole Sandys Pelham Lee Bilson-Legge Lyttelton Bilson-Legge Mansfield Bilson-Legge Barrington Dashwood Grenville Dowdeswell Townshend North Cavendish Pitt Cavendish Pitt Addington Pitt Ellenborough Petty Perceval Vansittart
United Kingdom	Vansittart Robinson Canning Tenterden Herries Goulburn Althorp Denman Peel Spring Rice Baring Goulburn Wood Disraeli Gladstone Lewis Disraeli Gladstone Disraeli Hunt Lowe Gladstone Northcote Gladstone Childers Hicks Beach Harcourt R. Churchill Goschen Harcourt Hicks Beach Ritchie A. Chamberlain Asquith Lloyd George McKenna Law A. Chamberlain Horne Baldwin N. Chamberlain Snowden W. Churchill Snowden N. Chamberlain Simon Wood Anderson Dalton Cripps Gaitskell Butler Macmillan Thorneycroft Heathcoat-Amory Lloyd Maudling Callaghan Jenkins Macleod Barber Healey Howe Lawson Major Lamont Clarke Brown Darling Osborne Hammond Javid Sunak Zahawi Kwarteng Hunt Reeves
Italic: Interim Chancellor of the Exchequer, as Lord Chief Justice

v t e Chancellors of the Exchequer under the House of Stuart (1603–1649; 1660–1714)
James I (1603–1625)	Sir George Home of Spot (1603–1606) Sir Julius Caesar (1606–1614) 5th Baron Willoughby de Broke (1614–1621) Sir Richard Weston (1621–1625)
Charles I (1625–1649)	1st Baron Weston (1625–1628) 1st Lord Barrett of Newburgh (1628–1629) 1st Baron Cottington (1629–1642) Sir John Colepeper (1642–1643) Sir Edward Hyde (1643–1646)
Charles II (1660–1685)	1st Baron Ashley (1661–1672) John Duncombe (1672–1676) John Ernle (1676–1685)
James II (1685–1688)	John Ernle (1685–1688)
William & Mary (1689–1694)	John Ernle (1688–1689) 2nd Baron Delamer (1689–1690) Richard Hampden (1690–1694)
William III (1694–1702)	Sir Charles Montagu (1694–1699) John Smith (1699–1701) Henry Boyle (1701–1702)
Anne (1702–1714)	1st Baron Carleton (1702–1708) John Smith (1708–1710) Robert Harley (1710–1711) Robert Benson (1711–1713) Sir William Wyndham, Bt (1713–1714)

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