PILSWORTH, Charles (d.1749), of Oving, nr. Aylesbury, Bucks.

Charles Pilsworth was living at Oving by 1723, before his marriage to the heiress of an old Buckinghamshire family, through whom he later acquired the manor of Oving.Bucks. Sessions Recs. vi. 86, 112; Lipscomb, Bucks. i. 377, 519. A practising lawyer with a considerable reputation among the local justices, he was described in 1733 as ‘the oracle of this country’.Verney Letters of 18th Cent. ii. 212-13; Alexander Denton to Walpole, 23 Dec. 1733, Cholmondeley (Houghton) mss. Returned for Aylesbury as a government supporter in 1741, he voted with the Administration in all recorded divisions, was summoned to the Cockpit meeting in 1742 through Winnington, and was classed as ‘Old Whig’ in 1746. When two vacancies occurred among the judges in March 1745, Pilsworth wrote to his uncle, Lord Verney:

This will be the fairest opportunity that can offer of pushing our point; for if the ministry will not comply now, I shall be convinced they never intend to do anything. If ... they should appear to trifle with us, we must in such case find access to the King forthwith ... I am determined to press this point at this juncture; if those seats are filled with younger lives, I can have no further expectations.

Verney replied:

I have had some discourse with [Mr. Pelham] ... he speaks very fair and wishes you may be a judge, but says it can’t be now ... I really believe the ministry are in earnest and will serve you another time.Verney Letters, ii. 213-14.

Before anything more was done, Pilsworth died, 4 Jan. 1749.