John 'Mad Jack' Fuller - Political Career

Political Career

In 1779, John "Mad Jack" Fuller, at the age of 22, was captain of a light infantry company in the Sussex Militia. In 1796, Fuller was appointed High Sheriff of Sussex, for a period of one year, and in 1798, he became a captain in the Sussex Gentlemen and Yeomanry Cavalry.

In 1780, at the age of 23, Jack Fuller was elected to Parliament. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Southampton from 1780 to 1784, and for Sussex from 1801 to 1812.

Fuller, a noted drunk, on 27 February 1810 was involved in an incident with the Speaker in Parliament, which led to him being seized by the Serjeant-at-Arms and to public disgrace. At that time he was serving on a committee that was enquiring into the reasons behind the disastrous Walcheren Expedition the previous year. Despite other drunken instances, his parliamentary career is probably most notable for his staunch support of slavery. In one debate he claimed that West Indian slaves lived in better conditions than many people in England.

On 17 July 1781, Fuller's sister Elizabeth married Sir John Palmer Acland, a grandson of Sir Hugh Acland, 6th Baronet MP, in St. Marylebone in London.

In 1790, at the age of 33, he proposed marriage to Susannah Arabella Thrale,(daughter of Henry Thrale and Hester Thrale) but was rebuffed. In fact, he never married, and is not known to have had any children.

In 1811, a pyramid-shaped building, often referred to as "The Pyramid", was erected in the churchyard of the Church of St. Thomas à Becket in Brightling as a future mausoleum for Jack Fuller.

Fuller retired from politics in 1812, not standing for re-election in the General Election of that year.