Edward Bolton King was a British Whig politician from Umberslade in Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

.

He was the son of Edward King, Vice Chancellor of the County of Lancaster, and nephew of Capt James King (qv) and of Rt. Revd. Walker King, Bishop of Rochester (qv). He was High Sheriff of Warwickshire

High Sheriff of Warwickshire

The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere or are now defunct, so that its functions...

 in 1830, and at the 1831 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1831

The 1831 general election in the United Kingdom saw a landslide win by supporters of electoral reform, which was the major election issue. As a result it was the last unreformed election, as the Parliament which resulted ensured the passage of the Reform Act 1832. Polling was held from 28 April to...

 he was elected as a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Warwick

Warwick (UK Parliament constituency)

Warwick was a parliamentary borough consisting of the town of Warwick, within the larger Warwickshire constituency of England. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England from 1295 to 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and then to the...

. He was re-elected in 1832 and 1835

United Kingdom general election, 1835

The 1835 United Kingdom general election was called when Parliament was dissolved on 29 December 1834. Polling took place between 6 January and 6 February 1835, and the results saw Robert Peel's Conservatives make large gains from their low of the 1832 election, but the Whigs maintained a large...

, but was defeated at the 1837 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1837

The 1837 United Kingdom general election saw Robert Peel's Conservatives close further on the position of the Whigs, who won their fourth election of the decade....

.

After his defeat he became prominent in the Warwickshire Association for the Protection of Agriculture and stood (unsuccessfully) against the Peelite candidate at the 1847 General Election. In the 1857 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1857

-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...

, he was returned unopposed as one of the two MPs for South Warwickshire

South Warwickshire (UK Parliament constituency)

South Warwickshire was a parliamentary constituency in the county of Warwickshire in England. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.- History :...

. The nomination process took place at the Shire Hall in Warwick, where King was nominated by Sir Francis Shuckburgh, who described King as "no Radical

Radicals (UK)

The Radicals were a parliamentary political grouping in the United Kingdom in the early to mid 19th century, who drew on earlier ideas of radicalism and helped to transform the Whigs into the Liberal Party.-Background:...

 but a Whig Conservative". In his acceptance speech, King stated that he had pledged himself to be independent of all political parties

Political Parties

Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...

, but would support Lord Palmerston (the Prime Minister

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

), who he believed deserved credit for the satisfactory conclusion of the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

. He served only two years as MP for South Warwickshire, and did not contest the 1859 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1859

In the 1859 United Kingdom general election, the Whigs, led by Lord Palmerston, held their majority in the House of Commons over the Earl of Derby's Conservatives...

. He was latterly Chairman of the South Warwickshire Liberal Association.

King died on 23 March 1878, aged 77. His will, dated 24 November 1876, made generous provision for his second wife and his children by her, but left most of the rest of his estate in tail

Fee tail

At common law, fee tail or entail is an estate of inheritance in real property which cannot be sold, devised by will, or otherwise alienated by the owner, but which passes by operation of law to the owner's heirs upon his death...

 to his only son by his first marriage, Edward Raleigh King His estate was valued at less than £80,000.

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