Sir John Shelley, 5th Baronet

Sir John Shelley, 5th Baronet, was born in 1730 and died on 11 September 1783. He was associated with Michelgrove in Sussex. He was the eldest son of Sir John Shelley, 4th Baronet, and Margaret Pelham. His maternal uncles included Henry Pelham and the Duke of Newcastle, both of whom served as Prime Ministers of Great Britain.

Shelley entered the British House of Commons in 1751, initially representing East Retford. His election came through a by-election, likely occurring shortly after he reached the legal age to serve as an MP. The seat was a pocket borough controlled by his uncle, the Duke of Newcastle. The vacancy that enabled his entry was caused by the previous MP’s appointment as a Commissioner of the Excise, which may have been orchestrated to facilitate Shelley's election. He held this seat until 1768.

In 1768, Shelley shifted his parliamentary constituency to Newark, which had previously also been under Newcastle’s influence but had been transferred to another Newcastle nephew, the Earl of Lincoln. Shelley served as MP for Newark until he did not seek re-election in 1780. He also served as MP for New Shoreham at some point during his tenure.

In 1755, under the recommendation of the Duke of Newcastle, who had become Prime Minister the previous year following his brother’s death, Shelley was appointed to a sinecure position—Keeper of the Records of the Tower of London. This post was a term appointment valued at £420 annually. Two years later, in 1757, he was appointed Clerk of the Pipe, another lucrative position.

Shelley held the office of Treasurer of His Majesty's Household beginning in 1766, and in the same year, he was appointed to the Privy Council. He inherited the baronetcy upon the death of his father on 5 September 1771 and took possession of Michelgrove estate in Sussex.

He was married twice. His first wife was Wilhelmina Newnham, daughter of John Newnham of Maresfield Park; she died in 1772. Together, they had a son named John, who succeeded Sir John Shelley as the 6th Baronet. After Wilhelmina’s death, Shelley married Elizabeth Woodcock, with whom he had three daughters.

Shelley retired from parliamentary service in 1780 and died two years later, in 1783.