JOLLIFFE, Gilbert East (1802-1833), of Tilgate, nr. Crawley, Suss.

Jolliffe was named after Gilbert East (1764-1828) of Hall Place, Berkshire, the childless heir to a baronetcy and a fortune, who had married his paternal aunt Eleanor. When his grandfather William Jolliffe died in 1802 after 34 years as Member for Petersfield, he left Jolliffe the modest sum of £200 ‘in the expectation that Mr. East, his uncle in law, or his aunt will provide for him’, and the latter subsequently held out this incentive as a reward for good behaviour. Ibid. 159-60; PROB 11/1376/465. According to his mother’s journal, from 1816-17 he toured France with his tutor and elder brother William, whom he followed into the army on his return. His brief military career was undistinguished. In February 1818 he was presented to the regent at a levée by his uncle Hylton Jolliffe*, whose enthusiasm for field sports he evidently shared. Jolliffe, 152, 155, 157-9; Sporting Mag. (ser. 2), i. 418. Despite the misgivings of his father and aunt, in 1823 he married the daughter of Edward Banks, his father’s partner in the firm of public works contractors, Jolliffe and Banks. Jolliffe, 180, 183-4; Oxford DNB sub Banks. The couple returned from a sojourn abroad in November 1824 and settled at Hooley, Surrey, in a house belonging to Hylton Jolliffe. They travelled to Russia in 1827 and the following year moved to Tilgate, a gift from Banks. Jolliffe, 188, 199, 203; C. and J. Greenwood, Surr. Described, 141. Jolliffe was among the chief mourners at the funeral of his uncle Sir Gilbert East in December 1828, but was only left £500 out of his fortune of £300,000, which in the event he did not live to receive. Gent. Mag. (1829), i. 173-4; PROB 11/1751/76; IR26/1192/33.

At the 1830 general election Jolliffe came forward for Petersfield as the nominee of Hylton Jolliffe, though on the hustings he ritually declared himself to be ‘perfectly unfettered’. His assertion that he had lived all his life in the borough, which was patently untrue, was greeted with derisive laughter, and he was goaded into a show of pique by a heckler. He and his brother William were returned after a two-day poll which was unsuccessfully challenged on petition. Som. RO, Hylton mss DD/HY, box 17, Procs. at Petersfield Election (1830). Jolliffe, who is not known to have spoken in debate, was listed by the Wellington ministry as one of their ‘friends’, but he was absent from the crucial division on the civil list, 15 Nov. 1830. He voted against the second reading of the Grey ministry’s reform bill, 22 Mar., and for Gascoyne’s wrecking amendment, 19 Apr. 1831. At the ensuing dissolution his seat was reclaimed by his uncle, whose bid to transfer to Surrey in 1830 had proved unsuccessful. Jolliffe’s father expressed himself

sorry you are no longer in Parliament ... but the uneasiness it caused to your wife, which I hope will now cease, I trust will compensate ... enabling you both more agreeably to enjoy your tranquil home ... I wish the Penryn people would bring you in, in spite of all. You will say that is a mischievous wish, or at least Margaret will. Jolliffe, 218-9.

Nothing came of this and Jolliffe made no bid to re-enter Parliament. He died v.p. and s.p. in December 1833 ‘after a few days’ illness’. By his will, executed four days before his death, he left a life interest in the Tilgate property and ample provision from funded investments of £20,000 to his wife, who survived him by less than three years, dying on 12 Oct. 1836. His real and personal estate, valued at £30,000, was left in trust to his brother’s second son Hedworth Hylton Jolliffe (1829-99), later 2nd Baron Hylton. PROB 11/1826/31; IR26/1355/28. A memorial plaque from his friends deplored his ‘untimely loss’, and according to the family historian his demise hastened that of his father, who died 31 Jan. 1835. M.I. in Merstham church; Jolliffe, 224.