Sir Francis Burdett: His Last “Make Believe” Interview

Sir Francis Burdett, the 5th Baronet of Bramcote, has, for the most part, been forgotten by history; in part because of his affair with Lady Oxford – an affair that his daughter Angela Georgina Burdett Coutts, the wealthy English philanthropist, tried to coverup.

In 1793 Burdett married Sophia Coutts, the daughter of Thomas Coutts, the “royal banker” and one of the wealthiest men in the country. To get Francis out of a suicidal funk that was disturbing his daughter, the wealthy banker bought his son-in-law his first seat in Parliament.

Sir Francis (1770-1844) was a member of the English House of Commons for 48 years, from 1796 to his death. For most of his career in Parliament, he was a “radical reformer” and the champion of the Westminster rabble that he represented. In addition to parliamentary reform, he championed free speech, prison reform, the Catholic emancipation, and the elimination of flogging. These were his passions.

In addition to his affair with Lady Oxford, Sir Francis survived a duel with James Paull and two prison sentences. Burdett holds the distinction of being the last member of Parliament to be imprisoned by Parliament in the Tower of London.

In 1810, he was imprisoned (by the House of Commons) in the Tower of London for his libelous and scandalous defense of a citizen, John Gale Jones, who was imprisoned for promoting a debate on the liberty of the press. For several days, there were riots (and deaths) in the streets of London, as the government attempted to arrest and imprison Sir Francis. This may have been as close as the English ever came to a French-style Revolution.

In 1821, Sir Francis was imprisoned in Marshalsea, in south London, because of his “seditious and malicious” criticism of the government’s role in, and response to, the Peterloo Massacre.

The book takes the form of “an interview with a dead man,” where Sir Francis Burdett (SFB) answers a series of questions from the author (RCB). The answers, for the most part, reflect Sir Francis’ letters and speeches (on the hustings or in the House of Commons).

In addition to his political life, the book delves into the personal lives of the Burdett and Coutts families. The book also contains a chapter comparing the Peterloo Massacre (England, 1819) and the Capitol Insurrection (USA, 2021).