St Andrew St John, 14th Baron St John of Bletso

St Andrew St John, 14th Baron St John of Bletso (22 August 1759-15 October 1817) was a member of the British House of Commons representing Bedfordshire, for 20 years before he inherited a peerage.

He was the son of John 12th Lord St John of Bletsoe and was born at Woodford Northamptonshire. He was educated by the Rev. John Skynner at Easton near Stamford. He was then at Lincoln's Inn in 1773 and St John's College, Cambridge in 1776. He was awarded MA in 1779 and was called to the bar on the 29th January 1782. In 1780, he was elected for parliament in Bedfordshire and being a personal friend of Charles James Fox, supported him throughout his political career. He was Under Secretary of State for foreign affairs to Lord North for a short time in 1783 but otherwise was generally very active in opposition.

St Andrew became the 14th Lord St John of Bletsoe when his brother Henry died in 1805, and so resigned his seat in the Commons. As a peer he accepted a Privy Councillorship in 1806 and Household Office as Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners. He was Captain of the Bedford Volunteers in 1803 and became Lt-Colonel from 1806 to 1808. In 1808 he also became a Fellow of the Royal Society and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

In 1807 he married Louisa Boughton, 30 years his junior. She was the daughter of Sir Charles William Rouse-Boughton, 9th Baronet and Catherine Pearce Hall. St Andrew was then nearly 50 and had a long parliamentary career behind him in which he would have been on the opposite side in most cases to Louisa's father. They lived at Melchbourne Park, Bedfordshire, and had two children, St Andrew and Louisa. Lord St John died at the age of 58, leaving Louisa a widow with a young family. She married again to Mr Serjeant Vaughan on the 11th August 1828. They had at least one son Charles.

References

* Namier and Brooke "History of Parliament:The Commons, 1754-1790"
* R G Thorne "History of Parliament:The Commons, 1790-1820"
* Burke's Baronetage & Peerage