John Conduitt - Parliament and Mint

Parliament and Mint

In June 1721 Conduitt was elected, on petition, a whig member for Whitchurch, Hampshire, which he represented during the 1720s as a loyal supporter of Walpole's government. He took an active interest in the running of Isaac's Newton office of Master of the Mint in the latter years of Isaac's life, and he was appointed in his stead in March 1727 after Isaac's death. He attempted to collect materials for a Life of Newton, but after starting, he quickly stopped. In 1728 he was somewhat unhelpful to John Newton the heir to Isaac's real estate, and Newton resorted to the Chancery courts to get satisfaction. (PRO, Chancery depositions)

By the early 1730s Conduitt had become a relatively prominent parliamentary speaker, defending the government on a number of issues, including Walpole's maintenance of the Septennial Act. In 1734 he was re-elected to his seat but chose to represent Southampton. Two years later (12 January 1736) he introduced a successful bill repealing an early 17th-century act against conjuration and witchcraft.

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