No. XXXIII.

CHRISTOPHER POTTER, Esq.

EX-M. P. FOR COLCHESTER.

THE HE early part of the life of Mr. Potter, appears to be lost in obscurity. We first hear of him, in the administration of Lord North, during the American war, when he became a contractor for government. At that eventful period, without being a baker by trade, he contrived to acquire a considerable fortune, by manufacturing bread for the army; and it will be seen in the course of his future pursuits, that by means of the oven, he afterwards contrived to acquire and maintain, no small share of reputation.

Had the subject of this brief memoir, confined himself to his contract, he would doubtless have realised the most sanguine expectations of an ardent, and ambitious mind. But as `Colchester had been for some time the scene of his glory; so it also was fated to become the scene of his defeat. Not content with supplying batches of bread, he now aspired to the less profitable trade, of polling batches of electors, a business, in which, notwithstanding his accurate knowledge of old 66 Cocker," he appears to have been a mere novice!

On the death of Isaac Martin Rebow, Esq., in 1781, the colleague of the late Sir Robert Smyth, Bart., the Speaker issued his warrant for a new writ to the Clerk of the Crown, on the 12th of November. On this occasion two candidates started for public favour; the one was Captain, afterwards Admiral Affleck; who we believe was countenanced by the ministerial interest, and Mr. Christopher Potter, ex-contractor, and now become a staunch patriot, who appeared on

the popular side. The immense expenses usually incurred, in bringing down the out-voters, and influencing the resident electors was not diminished on the present occasion; and accordingly a very long and vigorous contest ensued. At the end of this protracted conflict, Mr. Potter appeared to have the majority on the poll; but a Committee of the House of Commons decided it otherwise; for at length it was resolved, March 4, 1782, "That Edmund Affleck, Esq., was duly elected, and ought to have been returned!" The triumphant candidate was created a baronet a few weeks after.*

The Ex-Member for Colchester, now disappeared from before the public eye, for a long series of years; and although his particular friends and connexions were well aware that he had emigrated to and settled in France, whither he had transferred the residue of his capital, yet it was only from the pages of the Moniteur, and a vote of the National Assembly +, that strangers learned of his having opened his ovens with no small degree of effect, on the other side of the channel.

The French have doubtless carried the art of manufacturing porcelaine to a high, and perhaps an unrivalled degree of perfection, particularly in the article of gilding. To have gone thither therefore for the purpose of entering into competition with rival dealers, must have appeared to most men a very dangerous and unprofitable speculation. Certain it is, however, that the china produced under his inspection and superintendence, exhibited an extraordinary portion of beauty, taste, and elegance. To attain this, he applied himself with no common degree of attention and perseverance to chemical researches, for the purpose of improving the colours, while he had acquired a surprising skill in the mechanical part of his art. At length, by an union of both, not only particular ornaments, but long sets and services, as well as rare, unique, and expensive articles, on issuing from his furnaces seemed instantly to acquire a certain degree of celebrity and renown that put

* May 28, 1782. He was afterwards promoted a Rear-Admiral of the Blue, on February 10, 1784.

+"Citizen Potter has deserved well of his country."

superiority to defiance. The warehouses of Seve, have indeed flourished by means of regal protection before and imperial patronage after the period here alluded to; but during the short-lived and disastrous epoch of the French commonwealth, this elegant art was left to individual competition alone; and it was an Englishman who proved the most successful candidate for fame.

There is every reason to suppose that Mr. Potter, previously to his death, which occurred in 1817, had relinquished this, in order to engage in some other pursuit: for he was both speculative and eccentric, and with these qualities, which are sufficiently common, he united a gift that but rarely accompanies them; for he could calculate by memory alone with a promptitude that astonished the beholder, and at the same time with a degree of precision, that could only be equalled by the slow and painful operations of the countinghouse!

No. XXXIV.

SIR JOSEPH MAWBEY, Bart.

THE Mawbeys claim their descent from the village of Mawtby, in the county of Norfolk; but they owe their wealth and title to the manufactories of this great and opulent island. Mr. Joseph Mawbey, was for many years engaged in a large and profitable distillery at Vauxhall; and by the conversion of malt into British spirits and vinegar, realised a considerable fortune; which was encreased by a marriage in 1760, with his cousin, Miss Pratt, who finally succeeded to the joint fortunes of both her father and brother. As a multitude of hogs were fattened at his, like all other distilleries near town; this afforded ample scope for jests and puns, when he became a member of parliament.

Both in 1761, and 1768, this gentleman served as a burgess for Southwark; in 1765, he was created a Baronet. On the death of Sir Francis Vincent he was elected knight of the shire for the county of Surrey, as well as in 1780 and 1784; and on all these occasions his conduct was exemplary and correct. He was also distinguished as a chairman of the quarter sessions.

The late Sir Joseph, was one of the nine children by the heiress just alluded to, who died in 1790. He was born about the year 1763, and succeeded his father in 1798. Two years anterior to this (Aug. 9, 1796), he married Miss Charlotte Catherine Mary Henchman, daughter of Thomas Henchman, Esq., of Littleton, in the county of Middlesex, by whom he had issue two daughters; so that the baronetcy is extinct. for want of a male heir.

This gentleman resided at Bottley's, near St. Anne's-hill, in Surrey, and once presented himself as a candidate for that county.

The remains of Sir Joseph were interred at Chertsey: the attempt to render his obsequies simple and without pomp was frustrated by the numerous applications from persons desirous of showing their last testimony of regard. The poor in him have lost a friend, as he performed his duties as a magistrate with unbiassed rectitude, and by living on his estate conduced to the benefit of all around him.

No. XXXV.

THE REV. WILLIAM BELOE, B.D. F.S.A.

RECTOR OF ALL-HALLOWS, LONDON-WALL; PREBENDARY OF ST. PANCRAS, IN ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL; AND PREBENDARY OF LINcoln.

MR. BELOE, was born in 1756-7, and died in 1817, at his house in Kensington Square. He was a man of very extensive erudition; he possessed great loyalty and zeal; and at one period, was laborious in the extreme. He first distinguished himself by his translation of Herodotus; and acquired a certain degree of literary eminence, in consequence of his various publications.

We have been promised a biographical memoir of this gentleman, and hope to be able to insert it, if not in the appendix to the present, at least in our next volume.