Edward Bacon (died 1786)

[1] In 1754 Bacon was again invited to stand for Norwich, but declined in order to oblige Pelham, who provided him with another seat at Newport in the 1754 general election.

When Walpole was raised to the peerage, Bacon was finally elected MP for Norwich in a by-election on 25 June 1756.

He became Lord of Trade in December 1759 and zealously applied himself to its work, remaining in office until 1765 with an attendance at Board meetings during that time of nearly 80 per cent.

At the 1761 general election Bacon and Harbord were opposed by two Norwich aldermen whom they easily defeated.

The English Chronicle acknowledged in a note on him in 1781: "Edward Bacon ... is an intelligent sensible man, perfectly conversant in the intricacies of committee business, and skilled in all the branches of commercial information.

He is vulgarly denominated a stickler, but as this appellation appears in him to be only an ill-natured mode of conveying an idea of indefatigable attention to every subject that comes within his cognizance, it will rather operate as a compliment than otherwise.