David Hartley (the Younger)
Encyclopedia
David Hartley, the younger (1732 – 19 December 1813), statesman, scientific inventor, and the son of the philosopher David Hartley
David Hartley (philosopher)
David Hartley was an English philosopher and founder of the Associationist school of psychology. -Early life and education:...

. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull (UK Parliament constituency)
Kingston upon Hull, often simply referred to as Hull, was a parliamentary constituency in Yorkshire, electing two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, from 1305 until 1885...

, and also held the position of His Britannic Majesty's Minister Plenipotentiary, appointed by King George III to treat with the United States of America. He was a signatory to the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...

. Hartley was the first MP to put the case for abolition of the slave trade
African slave trade
Systems of servitude and slavery were common in many parts of Africa, as they were in much of the ancient world. In some African societies, the enslaved people were also indentured servants and fully integrated; in others, they were treated much worse...

 before the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

, moving a resolution in 1776 that "the slave trade is contrary to the laws of God and the rights of men".

Life

Hartley was born in Bath, Somerset, England in 1732. He matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...

 on 6 April 1747 at the age of 15. He was awarded his B.A. on 14 March 1750 and was a fellow of Merton College, Oxford
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...

 until his death.
He became a student of Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...

 in 1759. During the 1760s he gained recognition as a scientist and, through mutual interests, he met and became an intimate friend and
correspondent of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

. Hartley was sympathetic to the Lord Rockingham's
Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, KG, PC , styled The Hon. Charles Watson-Wentworth before 1733, Viscount Higham between 1733 and 1746, Earl of Malton between 1746 and 1750 and The Earl Malton in 1750, was a British Whig statesman, most notable for his two terms as Prime...

 Whigs
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...

, although he did not hold office in either Rockingham ministry.
He represented Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull (UK Parliament constituency)
Kingston upon Hull, often simply referred to as Hull, was a parliamentary constituency in Yorkshire, electing two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, from 1305 until 1885...

 in parliament from 1774 to 1780, and from 1782 to 1784, and attained considerable reputation as an opponent of the war with America, and of the African slave trade.

He was expert in public finance and spoke frequently in parliament in opposition to the war in America. Although a liberal on American policy, Hartley was a long-time friend of Lord North
and strongly disliked the Prime Minister, Shelburne
William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
William Petty-FitzMaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, PC , known as The Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history, was an Irish-born British Whig statesman who was the first Home Secretary in 1782 and then Prime Minister 1782–1783 during the final...

. He supported the Coalition by voting against Shelburne's peace preliminaries.
It was probably owing to his friendship with Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

, and to his consistent support of Lord Rockingham, that he was selected by
the government to act as plenipotentiary in Paris, where on 3 September 1783 he and Franklin drew up and signed the definitive treaty of
peace between Great Britain and the United States of America. He died at Bath on 19 December 1813 in his eighty-second year.

His portrait was painted by George Romney
George Romney (painter)
George Romney was an English portrait painter. He was the most fashionable artist of his day, painting many leading society figures - including his artistic muse, Emma Hamilton, mistress of Lord Nelson....

 and has been engraved by J. Walker
John Walker (naturalist)
John Walker was a Scottish minister and natural historian. He was Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh from 1779 to 1803....

 in mezzotint
Mezzotint
Mezzotint is a printmaking process of the intaglio family, technically a drypoint method. It was the first tonal method to be used, enabling half-tones to be produced without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple...

. Nathaniel William Wraxall
Nathaniel William Wraxall
Sir Nathaniel William Wraxall, 1st Baronet was an English author-Life:He was born in Queen Square, Bristol, the son of a Bristol merchant, Nathaniel Wraxall, and his wife Anne, great niece of Sir James Thornhill the painter...

 says that Hartley, "though destitute of all personal recommendation of manner,
possessed some talent with unsullied probity, added to indefatigable perseverance and labour." He adds that his speeches were intolerably long and dull, and that "his rising always operated
like a dinner bell" (Memoirs, iii. 490).

Writings

Hartley's writings are mostly political, and set forth the arguments of the extreme liberals
Radical Whigs
The Radical Whigs were "a group of British political commentators" associated with the British Whig faction who were at the forefront of Radicalism...

 of his time.
In 1764 he wrote a vigorous attack on the Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute KG, PC , styled Lord Mount Stuart before 1723, was a Scottish nobleman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain under George III, and was arguably the last important favourite in British politics...

 administration, "inscribed to the man who thinks himself a minister."
His most important writings are his Letters on the American War, published in London in 1778 and 1779, and addressed to his constituents. "The road," he writes, "is open to national
reconciliation between Great Britain and America. The ministers have no national object in view . . . the object was to establish an influential dominion of the crown by means of an
independent American revenue uncontrolled by parliament." He seeks throughout to vindicate the opposition to the war. In 1794 he printed at Bath a sympathetic Argument on the French Revolution, addressed to his parliamentary electors.

Hartley edited his father's
David Hartley (philosopher)
David Hartley was an English philosopher and founder of the Associationist school of psychology. -Early life and education:...

 well-known Observations on Man, in London 1791 and (with notes and additions) in 1801.

In 1859 a number of Hartley's papers were sold in London. Six volumes of letters and other documents relating to the peace went to America and passed into the collection of L.Z. Leiter
Levi Leiter
Levi Ziegler Leiter was a Chicago businessman. He co-founded what became the Marshall Field & Company retail empire.-Biography:...

 of Washington; others are in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

.

Inventions

In his last years, Hartley studied chemistry and mechanics. In 1785 he published Account of a Method of Securing Buildings and Ships against Fire, by placing thin iron planks under floors and attaching them to the ceilings, partly to prevent immediate access of the fire, and partly to stop the free supply of air. He built a house on Putney Heath to verify the efficacy of his invention. An obelisk was built on the heath, adjacent to Tibbet's corner 1776 marking the Lord Mayor of London's decision to give Hartley £2,500 for work on his fire plates. It makes mention of its being erected on the 110th anniversary of the Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...

. On the occasion of a fire at Richmond House, on 21 December 1791, he wrote a pamphlet urging the value of his fire plates.

The brick obelisk with heavily inscribed foundation stone still stands on Putney Heath, near where the A219 veers from the A3 at Tibbet's Corner, towards Putney. There is no parking at the site; however there is parking and footpath access from near the adjacent Telegraph Pub, off Wildcroft Road. Since 1955 the obelisk has been a Grade II listed building.

One side of the upper and lower case inscription reads:
By VIRTUE of an ORDER of the Right Hon. the LORD MAYOR ALDERMEN and COMMONS of the CITY of LONDON in Common Council Assembled Dated the 22nd. November 1776 DAVID HARTLEY Esq. was admitted into the FREEDOM of the said CITY in the COMPANY of GOLDSMITHS in the time of the Rt. Hon Sr. THOMAS HALLIFAX KNt. LORD MAYOR and BENJAMIN HOPKINS ESQ CHAMBERLAIN in CONSIDERATION of the ADVANTAGES likely to accrue to the PUBLIC by his INVENTION of FIRE PLATES for securing buildings from FIRE and for his respectful attention to this CITY in his repeated EXPERIMENTS performed before many of the members of the COURT. The RECORD of which EXPERIMENTS and also of his admission into the FREEDOM of the said CITY of LONDON is entered in the BOOK signed with the letter R[…?]c IN WITNESS whereof the SEAL of the Office of CHAMBERLAIN thereunto affixed DATED in the GUILD-HALL of the same CITY the 26th. day of March in the 17th. Year of the Reign of Our SOVEREIGN LORD GEORGE the THIRD &c And in the Year of Our LORD MDCCLXXVII
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