Walter Hungerford (MP)

Hungerford was returned as Member of Parliament for Calne at the first general election of 1701, where there was a vacancy because his elder brother, George, had died prematurely in 1698 and his brother-in-law, Henry Blake, the sitting member, had fallen out with Sir George Hungerford. He made little or no impression upon the work of the House and he is not known to have spoken. He was not put up to stand at the second general election of 1701. In 1708, he purchased the office of Commissioner of Appeals in Excise worth, £200 a year, from Joseph Addison. He was dismissed from the post in December 1714 despite an appeal from Addison to the Treasury to let him "enjoy the fruits of his purchase".^[1]

Hungerford stood at Calne in 1715, but was defeated. He served as High Sheriff of Wiltshire for the year 1727 to 1729. At the 1734 British general election, he was returned again as Whig MP for Calne. He voted against the Spanish convention in 1739 but thenceforth supported the Administration. His only known speeches were on 16 March 1739, when he opposed a motion to take the duty off Irish yarn, 1741 and on 6 December 1743, when he spoke against an opposition motion to discontinue the Hanoverians in English pay. Classed as an Old Whig in 1746, he did not stand again.^[2]

Hungerford used his residence at Studley House as a base from which to purchase further Wiltshire properties, including Rodbourne manor and neighbouring messuages. His wife Elizabeth died in 1749. He died without issue on 31 May 1754 and was buried in the family vault at Bremhill, Wiltshire. He left Rodbourne and Great Durnford manors, Wiltshire, and Stanton Court, Devon, to three nephews.^[2]