Humphry Morice (MP for Launceston)

rdf:langString Humphry Morice (MP for Launceston)

rdf:langString John Buller 1774–1780

rdf:langString Peter Burrell 1759–1768

rdf:langString Sir George Lee 1754–1758

rdf:langString Sir John St Aubyn 1750–1754, 1758–1759

rdf:langString William Amherst 1768–1774

rdf:langString Member of Parliament for Launceston

rdf:langString Member of Parliament for Newport

rdf:langString Humphry Morice (1723 – 18 October 1785) was a Whig Member of Parliament for the Cornish parliamentary borough of Launceston from 2 February 1750 until 1780. He was the son of Humphry Morice, MP, who embezzled large sums of money from the Bank of England and his daughter's trust fund and was widely believed to have poisoned himself to forestall exposure. The death of his second cousin in 1750 brought Morice great wealth and the electoral control of two Cornish boroughs, but his poor health and perhaps his personality prevented him from achieving high office. After 1760, he was frequently abroad in Italy, where he was a patron of the painter Pompeo Batoni. He briefly achieved ministerial office in 1762 as Comptroller of the Household, possibly by accident; however, he was removed from that office in 1763, and although he was appointed Lord Warden of the Stannaries and was sworn of the Privy Council, he was not a significant political figure thereafter. Declining health and great expense made him sell out his electoral interests to the Duke of Northumberland in 1775. After 1782, he lived entirely abroad, dying in Naples in 1785. His love of animals was reflected in his will, wherein he left a substantial legacy to care for his horses and hounds.