Sir Gilfrid Lawson, 6th Baronet

Sir Gilfrid Lawson, 6th Baronet (1675–1749),^[1] was an English politician. He was one of the Lawson Baronets.

Upon the death of Mardaunt Lawson, the title and all of the estate passed to his cousin Gilfrid Lawson the grandson of Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 1st Baronet, of Isell, Member of Parliament Cumberland 1660, who had left Isel Hall to his eldest son, the father of Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 1st Baronet, of Isell, and Brayton, Cumberland to his second son, Gilfrid’s father. Sir Gilfrid Lawson 6th Bart (1675–1749) was Member of Parliament for the Cumberland constituency from 1702–1705 and also from 1707-34.^[2] A moderate Tory, though a member of the October Club, he voted after 1715 consistently against the Government. In parliament he was plain Mr Lawson and two parliamentary speeches are recorded in the parliamentary proceedings (Hansard began in 1803). On 4 April 1717, after James Stanhope had offended several members after moving that parliament grant the King supplies to subsidise foreign powers, Lawson declared that no one but ‘such as ... were not the King’s friends’ could refuse to support the vote of credit for measures against Sweden. He further said that if a Member must be accounted an enemy to the King when he happens not to fall in with his ministers ... they had nothing else to do but to retire to their country seats.^[3] According to records Lawson's inflammatory response accused the speaker of ‘interfering with freedom of debate’. An extract from Tindal's England (Vol 2) records:

"...that he was surprised to hear such unguarded expressions fall from so respectable a person, and that if every member of the House who used Freedpom of Speech must be accounted an enemy to the King whenever he happened to disapprove of the measures of his Ministers, he knew no service they could render to their country in that House, and it were better at once to retire to their country seats, and leave the King and his Ministers to act entirely at their discretion."

On 15 Dec. 1720 he attacked the South Sea Company directors, and four days later he seconded Sir Joseph Jekyll’s motion for a select committee of the Commons to inquire into the affairs of the Company. On 6 Apr. 1723, he opposed the bill of pains and penalties against Francis Atterbury on the grounds of insufficiency of evidence.. No further speeches by Lawson are reported till 1730, when he spoke in favour of removing the duty on salt, as most affecting the poor. He also spoke against the removal of the duty on Irish yarn, and against the wool bill in 1731. In 1734 he retired, giving his interest to his first cousin once removed, Sir Joseph Pennington, having ‘broke with all other considerable people in the county’.^[3] Sir Gilfrid Lawson died on 23 August 1749 without issue and the title passed to his brother Alfred.^[4]

After the death of Sir Alfred Lawson 7th Bart died in 1752, his eldest son Wilfrid received the title. Sir Wilfrid Lawson 8th Bart (1712–63) became Sheriff of Cumberland in 1756. In 1761, he entered Parliament for the Cumberland constituency after James Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale who had been returned for that constituency, and for Westmorland, preferred to sit for the latter.^[5] Sir Wilfrid died in 1763, and having no issue the baronetcy passed to his brother Glifrid.

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