View source for Miles Barne (politician born 1746)

{{Short description|British Member of Parliament}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
'''Miles Barne''' (22 May 1746 – 8 September 1825) was a British [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Dunwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Dunwich]], a [[Pocket Borough]] in the county of [[Suffolk]], between 1791 and 1796 and [[High Sheriff of Suffolk]] from 1790 to 1791. Barne's father had established himself as co-proprietor of the Borough and controlled one seat; on his father's death, Barne declined to fill the vacancy, and so it went to his younger brother instead. However, in 1791, his brother resigned and Barne reluctantly took up the seat, serving until 1796.
==Early life and legal career==
Barne was the first son of [[Miles Barne (politician born 1718)|Miles Barne]] of [[Sotterley]], a Member of Parliament for Dunwich, and the only with his first wife, Elizabeth Elwick, daughter of [[Nathaniel Elwick]] of May Place, Kent, a [[Governor of Madras]].<ref>Stokes (1986a); Burke (1837), p. 141</ref> He was admitted at [[Peterhouse, Cambridge]] in 1762 and matriculated in 1763, before being admitted to [[Lincoln's Inn]] in 1764.<ref>Venn (1940), p. 160</ref>
==Member of Parliament==
Dunwich was a Parliamentary constituency in Suffolk, which had largely fallen into the sea and had a dwindling population by the late eighteenth century; it was home to roughly 40 voters.<ref>Stokes (1986b)</ref> Thus, the voters could be compelled by their land-lords to vote for the land-lord's favoured candidate. The Barne family, who had their seat in Sotterley, near [[Beccles]], in Suffolk, had become the leading co-proprietors of Dunwich (along with the Vanneck family) and so controlled the vote.<ref>Stokes (1986b)</ref> When Barne's father, Miles, had resigned from the seat in 1777, Barne declined to take it up and his brother, [[Barne Barne]], served instead.<ref>Stokes (1986a)</ref>
However, his brother's ambition and service was driven by his desire for an office and, when he was appointed a Tax Commissioner in 1791, the seat became vacant. With Miles Barne now having little choice, he was returned as Dunwich's Member of Parliament in 1791.<ref>Stokes (1986a)</ref> He had reluctantly accepted the post of High Sheriff for 1790–91 and much preferred the living of a country squire than a public servant.<ref>Stokes (1986a)</ref> Despite being recorded as a supporter of [[William Pitt the younger|Pitt]], he took up the role with little activity and is only recorded voting on a handful of occasions during his five years as M.P. After Parliament's dissolution at the end of 1795, he retired on health grounds.<ref>Stokes (1986a)</ref>
==Later life==
Unlike his kin, he was motivated neither by political service, nor reward. He did not ask, and did not receive, any offices or sinecures for his time as an M.P. Even as a squire, he was content to leave the business of the family's estate to his half-brothers.<ref>Stokes (1986a)</ref> According to his obituary, in the ''Gentleman's Magazine'', he spent the years after retiring from politics "almost constantly at Sotterley, in retirement, seeing very few persons except his near connections and relations."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=WLMUAAAAQAAJ ''The Gentleman's Magazine''] (1825, pt. ii), p. 280</ref>
He died, unmarried, on 8 September 1825 and his estate passed to his half-brother, Barne Barne.<ref>Stokes (1986a); [https://books.google.com/books?id=WLMUAAAAQAAJ ''The Gentleman's Magazine''] (1825, pt. ii), p. 280-1</ref>
==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|3}}
===Bibliography===
* Burke, J. (1837). [https://books.google.com/books?id=FBtVAAAAcAAJ&q=BArne+Sotterley+1833 ''A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry''], volume I.
* Stokes, W. (1986a), [http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/barne-miles-1746-1825 "Barne, Miles (1746-1825), of Sotterley Hall, Suff. and May Place, Crayford, Kent."], ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820'', ed. R. Thorne
* Stokes, W. (1986b). [http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/constituencies/dunwich Dunwich], ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820'', ed. R. Thorne
* Venn, J. and Venn, J.A. (1940). [https://books.google.com/books?id=WPPcP39XDDIC ''Alumni Cantabrigienses''], volume II, part I.
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{{succession box
| title  = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Dunwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Dunwich]]
| years  = 1791–1796
| with   = [[Joshua Vanneck, 1st Baron Huntingfield|Lord Huntingfield]]
| before = [[Barne Barne]] <br/> [[Joshua Vanneck, 1st Baron Huntingfield|Lord Huntingfield]]
| after  = [[Joshua Vanneck, 1st Baron Huntingfield|Lord Huntingfield]] <br/> [[Snowdon Barne]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barne, Miles}}
[[Category:1746 births]]
[[Category:1825 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Members of Lincoln's Inn]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies]]
[[Category:British MPs 1790–1796]]
[[Category:Barne family|Miles]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of Suffolk]]