John Dolben (politician)

John Dolben (1 July 1662 – 29 May 1710) was an English barrister and politician.

Life

Dolben was the younger son of John Dolben, Archbishop of York, baptised in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, on 1 July 1662; Sir Gilbert Dolben, 1st Baronet was his elder brother. He later studied at Christ Church, but is not recorded as a graduate. He was a barrister of the Temple, London, but squandered his inheritance and moved to the West Indies.

He was the member of Parliament for Liskeard from 1707, when he was elected in a by-election. He became the manager of Henry Sacheverell's impeachment in 1709.

Literature of the Sacheverell trial

Among the pamphlets relating to Dolben are:

• A Letter written by Mr. J. Dolbin to Dr. Henry Sacheverell, and left by him with a friend at Epsom, 1710, p. 16; composed as a letter of repentance.
• A true Defence of Henry Sacheverell, D.D., in a Letter to Mr. D——n [Dolben]. By S. M. N. O., 1710.
• An Elegy on the lamented Death of John Dolben.
• The Life and Adventures of John Dolben, 1710, pp. 16.

Family

His wife was Elizabeth, second daughter and coheiress of Tanfield Mulso of Finedon, Northamptonshire; her elder sister, Anne, married his elder brother, Sir Gilbert Dolben, to whom John sold his moiety of the family estates. Dolben's two sons died abroad in his lifetime (William, the elder, whose portrait was painted by Godfrey Kneller in 1709 and engraved by Smith in 1710, dying in 1709, aged 20), and Mary, one of his three daughters, died on 24 June 1710, aged 8. He was buried in Finedon Church under a large grey-marble tombstone; his widow survived until 4 March 1736. Their two surviving daughters were married in Westminster Abbey.