HYLTON, John (1699-1746), of Hylton Castle, co. Dur.

The Hyltons belonged to a small group of ancient families holding feudal baronies, who for some generations had the designation of baron.CP, vii. 19. Known himself as ‘the Baron’, Hylton is said to have been of a ‘mild and generous disposition, though of reserved habits’ and to have been one of the last to keep a domestic fool.Surtees, Durham, ii. 22-23, 36. For nearly 20 years he represented Carlisle as a Tory on the interest of his relations, the Musgraves, co-operating in elections with his Whig fellow-Member, Charles Howard, who stood separately from him on the interest of the Earls of Carlisle. In Parliament he normally voted against the Government, but allowed Howard to persuade him, though he did not ‘much relish it’, to abstain in 1736 from the division on a Quakers’ relief bill, in compliment to Lord Carlisle.HMC Carlisle, 101, 164, 165. He also was one of the Tories who abstained from the division on the motion for Walpole’s removal in February 1741. Defeated at the general election that year, he regained his seat on petition, voting against the Government in all three divisions on the Hanoverians. He died 25 Sept. 1746, the last male representative of his line, leaving his estates to his nephew, Sir Richard Musgrave, 4th Bt., on condition that he took the name of Hylton.