Sir Alexander Boswell, 1st Baronet

The son of Samuel Johnson's friend and biographer James Boswell of Auchinleck, he used the funds from his inheritance to pay for a seat in Parliament and then successfully sought a baronetcy for his political support of the government.

Shortly after his father's death he went to the University of Leipzig to study law, but soon dropped out of the course and visited Dresden and Berlin before returning to London in the summer of 1796.

Having abandoned a legal career, Boswell developed his interest in old Scottish authors and became a poet and bibliophile, becoming friends with Walter Scott.

Boswell bought his entry to the House of Commons in 1816, paying Paul Treby who controlled one seat in the borough of Plympton Erle in Devon.

His complaint was that Liverpool had not given help to him in his search for a seat in Parliament, despite having "conscientiously supported the administration with more persevering punctuality than any paid man in office", as he wrote to Lord Sidmouth.

[4] Boswell attended an Ayrshire meeting to vote a loyal address to King George IV over the Queen Caroline affair on 30 December 1820.

It cost him £1,000 per session to remain in Parliament, and Boswell concluded that he could not afford it; he resigned in February 1821, the day after voting in support of the Government over Queen Caroline.