Burdett

Burdett, Sir Francis, politician, was born in 1770 and educated at Westminster school and Oxford University. In 1793 he married Sophia, youngest daughter of Coutts, the banker. Entering Parliament in 1796, he became distinguished for his advanced views and forcible attacks upon the Government. In 1810 he published in Cobbett's Political Register a letter to his constituents impugning the right of Parliament to commit for libel. This led to the issue of the Speaker's warrant for his arrest. He barricaded himself in his house, however, and succeeded in defying the authorities for two days, during which a riot occurred and one man was killed in an encounter between the populace and the soldiers. He was liberated on the prorogation of Parliament, being again imprisoned for three months and fined £1,000 for his condemnation of the Peterloo Massacre. Latterly this fierce Radical became a Tory, and from 1837 until his death in 1844 represented North Wilts.