George Duckett

George Duckett (19 February 1684 – 6 October 1732), of Hartham House, Corsham, Wiltshire, was a British lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons for between 1705 and 1723. He was also a poet and author who was literary combatant of Alexander Pope. Early life Duckett was the eldest son of Lionel Duckett and his wife Martha (née Ashe, 1651–1688), daughter of Samuel Ashe of Langley Burrell, Wiltshire. In 1693, he succeeded to the estates of his father. He matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford on 29 November 1700, aged 15, and was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1703. Career At the 1705 general election, Duckett was returned in a contest as Whig Member of Parliament for Calne, in Wiltshire. He was very active in Parliament, acting several times as Teller. He spoke on the proceedings against Charles Caesar on 19 December 1705 and voted on the Place bill in 1706. He reported from the committee examining a petition relating to the administration of the Fleet prison and promoted a bill on the Calne highway. He was named to draft a bill to end the embargo on the export of white woollen cloth which was a matter of concern to his constituents. He supported his friend John Asgill over a publication and over his subsequent expulsion from the House. At the 1708 general election, he was returned in another contest. He voted for the naturalization of the Palatines in 1709, and for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710. At the 1710 general election he was caught up in a double return, and the Tory majority in the new House decided against him and his fellow Whig. At the 1722 British general election, Duckett was returned again as MP for Calne, but vacated the seat on 28 February 1723 on his appointment as a commissioner of excise, a post he held until 1732.