Joseph Neeld

Joseph Neeld (1789–1856) was Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom for the rotten borough of Gatton, Surrey in 1830 and for Chippenham, Wiltshire, England from 1830 to 1856.

Career

Neeld was one of five brothers born to Joseph Neeld (1754–1828), a solicitor and Mary (née Bond) (1765–1857); the family lived in Hendon.

He seems to have qualified as a Barrister of the Inner Temple but it is known that he set out on a career in property management; in 1821 he took a lease on land in Paddington owned by Westminster Abbey.

In 1828, he inherited a substantial amount from his great-uncle, Philip Rundell the silversmith, as reward for giving up a "lucrative profession" to take care of him for thirteen years. With this bequest, Neeld bought the Manor of Grittleton, about seven miles to the north of Chippenham. He spent from 8 March to 30 July 1830 as Member of Parliament for Gatton, a rotten borough with six houses and one elector, but returning two Members which was abolished by the Reform Act of 1832. He married Lady Caroline Ashley Cooper, daughter of the 6th Earl of Shaftesbury on 1 January 1831; however, the marriage did not last for long. This led to a series of legal disputes which ended with Lady Caroline failing to achieve a divorce, but being granted a legal separation. It had been revealed that Neeld already had a daughter by a French woman, and accordingly at his death Neeld had no legitimate heirs.

However, Neeld began the construction of Grittleton Manor in Victorian Gothic revival style, and set about furnishing it with an extensive collection of antiques and paintings. He was also a philanthropist, donating about £12,000 for the construction of a Town Hall for Chippenham, and building houses in Grittleton for his tenants. Another of his commissions was for the building of St Margaret of Antioch Church in Leigh Delamere.

His Parliamentary career was less successful; despite being a Member of Parliament for nearly 24 years, he spoke not once in the House of Commons.

Legacy

Neeld died on 24 March 1856, causing a by-election in Chippenham, and leaving no legitimate heirs; he willed his property to his brother John. His name is commemorated in the Neeld Hall in Chippenham, as well as a row of cottages in Hendon which was built in 1870.

File:NeeldPlaque.jpg

Memorial plaque in Grittleton church

In Grittleton itself, his name lives on in the name of the village pub, "The Neeld Arms", and in the east window of the church of St Mary the Virgin, accompanied by a plaque stating the window to have been "erected and dedicated by his (18) Friends and Tenants (71)". In Maida Hill, North Westminster, formerly the Borough of Paddington, there are also a Neeld Arms and Grittleton Road.

Grittleton Manor itself was bought in 1973 and is now Grittleton House School. Neeld's collection of art was split up, some pieces now being in the National Portrait Gallery and some in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

See also

• Neeld baronets
• Kelston Park

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Joseph Neeld

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Scott Michael George Prendergast	Member of Parliament for Gatton 1830 With: Michael George Prendergast	Succeeded by John Shelley John Thomas Hope
Preceded by Ebenezer Fuller Maitland Frederick Gye	Member of Parliament for Chippenham 1830–1856 With: Philip Pusey to 1831 Henry George Boldero 1831–1832 William Fox Talbot 1832–1835 Henry George Boldero from 1835	Succeeded by Robert Parry Nisbet Henry George Boldero