Anthony James Keck (c1740 – 1782) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1765 to 1780.

Anthony James Keck
Member of Parliament
for Leicester
In office
1765–1768
Preceded byJames Wigley
Succeeded byEyre Coote
Member of Parliament
for Newton
In office
1768–1780
Preceded byRandle Wilbraham
Succeeded byThomas Peter Legh
Personal details
BornStoughton, Leicestershire, England
Died28 February 1782
Lancashire
Political partyTory
SpouseElizabeth Keck (née Legh)
ChildrenPeter Robert Anthony Keck (buried 11 January 1768)
Elizabeth Keck (buried on 5 February 1773)
Anthony Peter Beaumont Keck (buried on 14 March 1777),
Peers Anthony Keck (buried 12 March 1797),
George Anthony Legh Keck (died 4 September 1860)
Residence(s)Stoughton Grange, Stoughton
OccupationPolitician

Keck was born in Stoughton, Leicestershire, and educated at Eton, St John's College, Cambridge,[1] and Lincoln's Inn.[2]

He was member of parliament (MP) for Leicester from 1765 to 1768, also for the rotten borough of Newton in Lancashire from 1768 to 1780. He lived at Stoughton Grange until he moved to Lancashire in 1768 and died aged 42 years, on 28 February 1782. He is buried at St Mary and All Saints Church in Stoughton.[3] along with numerous members of his family and descendants including his son, George Anthony Legh Keck (who was also MP for Leicestershire).

Family edit

He was descended from Thomas Keck (1617-1671) who was the elder brother of Sir Anthony Keck (1630-1695)(MP)Sir Anthony Keck.[4] His father was Anthony James Keck of Lincoln's Inn, son of Rev David James and Martha Keck, and his mother was Anne Busby of Beaumont, daughter of William Busby and Catherine Beaumont his wife.[5] His father was a sergeant-at-law, who worked with Thomas Vernon.His father changed his surname to Keck in 1736 which enabled the family to use the Keck coat of arms. Anthony James Keck, married Elizabeth Legh (the second daughter of Peter Legh of Lyme Park and Martha Bennet of Salthrop House), and by her had six children as follows:

Child Birth Death
Peter Robert Anthony Keck 1768 Died an infant, buried on 11 January 1768
Elizabeth Keck 1773 Died an infant, buried on 5 February 1773
Anthony Peter Beaumont Keck, 1777 Died an infant, buried on 14 March 1777
Piers Anthony Keck 1769 Died unmarried aged 28, buried on 12 March 1797
George Anthony Legh Keck 1774 Died 4 September 1860 at Bank Hall, Lancashire but was brought back to the family church for burial
Elizabeth Ann Keck 1781 Unknown date of death, but known to have married Thomas Calley of Burderop in Chiseldon.[6]

There are marble plaques in remembrance for all the Keck family in the church of St Mary and All Saints in Stoughton.[3] Elizabeth Legh remarried after the death of Anthony James Keck to William Bathurst Pye-Bennet and inherited the Broad Hinton estate (from the new marriage) and Salthrop estate (from her mother Martha Legh (née Bennet)) as well as the estates belonging to Norborne Family of Bremhill, Wiltshire.[7][8] The estates then passed to her surviving daughter Elizabeth Calley (née Keck).

References edit

  1. ^ "Anthony James Keck (KK758AJ)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. ^ Brooke, John (1964). "Keck, Anthony James (?1740-82), of Stoughton Grange, nr. Leicester". In Namier, Sir Lewis; Brooke, John (eds.). The House of Commons 1754-1790. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Stoughton – Section J – Memorials inside the church". Leicestershire Villages. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016.
  4. ^ Burke, Bernard (1858). A Genealogical Dictionary of the Landed Gentry Vol 1. London: Harrison. p. 639.
  5. ^ Urban, Sylvanus, ed. (November 1860). "Obituary: G. A. Legh Keck". Gentleman's Magazine. p. 554.
  6. ^ "Parishes: Wroughton". A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 11: Downton hundred; Elstub and Everleigh hundred. London: Victoria County History. 1980. pp. 235–252. Retrieved 1 March 2011 – via British History Online.
  7. ^ "Norborne Family Crests". My Family Silver.
  8. ^ Aubrey, John (1862). Jackson, John Edward (ed.). Wiltshire: The topographical collections of John Aubrey. Devizes: Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. p. 335.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Leicester
1765–1768
With: George Wrighte 1765-1766
John Darker 1766-1768
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Newton
17681780
With: Peter Legh
Robert Vernon Atherton Gwillym
Succeeded by