Philip Pusey

Pusey stood for election in Rye at a by-election in 1830 and was originally declared elected,^[1][2] but following an election petition he was unseated by an order of the House of Commons^[1] on 17 May 1830.^{[citation needed]}

He did not contest Rye at the 1830 general election, when he was elected as a Member for Chippenham.^[3] He did not contest Chippenham at the 1831 election, and stood instead in Rye. After riots in the town hall, Pusey agreed to withdraw from the election in return for a guarantee from General De Lacy Evans to protect the peace of the town; Evans won the seat.^[1]

Pusey was then returned at an uncontested by-election^[4] in July 1831 for the borough of Cashel in Ireland,^[5] and held that seat until the 1832 general election, when he stood unsuccessfully in Berkshire.^[6] He was elected without a contest^[6] for Berkshire at the 1835 general election,^[7] and held the seat until he retired from the House of Commons at the 1852 general election.^[6]

He was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of Berkshire in January 1831,^[8] and was nominated as High Sheriff of Berkshire in November 1833^[9] and again in November 1834.^[10]

Succeeding to the Manor of Pusey in Berkshire in 1828, he built a reputation as a progressive and practical farmer. Disraeli called him "one of the most distinguished country gentlemen who ever sat in the House of Commons".^[11] His most notable contribution to farming was the development of a system of using lush water-meadows to support large flocks of ewes and early-maturing lambs. He was an early advocate of the use of earthenware drainpipes for field drainage.^[12]

He was one of the founders of the Royal Agricultural Society, and was chairman of the agricultural implement section of the Great Exhibition of 1851. He was a fellow of the Royal Society, a writer on varied topics in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society and the translator of the hymn Lord of our Life and God of our Salvation.^[13]