Mr C.N. Newdegate, M.P., 'A Jesuit in disguise' Politician

Charles Newdigate Newdegate, M.P. (1816-1887), Politician, was born at Harefield Park, Uxbridge. He was educated at Eton, then King's College, London, and at Christ Church, Oxford. In 1863, he left Oxford with a D.C.L. Shortly after leaving the university, Newdegate inherited two large estates, Harefield Park and Arbury Hall, Warwickshire. In 1843, he was elected as a Conservative M.P. for North Warwickshire, a seat that he held for forty-two years. His career was mostly devoted to his deeply held belief in Protestantism, in expressing a deep distrust of Rome and the Papacy, and his opposition to free trade. Until his death, his zeal against Rome continued to occupy his private and political life, and, fearing that he might be diverted from this campaign, he refused a peerage from Palmerston. Even after his death in 1887, his will stipulated that the estates were not to be inherited by a Roman Catholic.

The possessor of two fine estates, the patron of four livings, the breeder of a large stud of thoroughbreds, and a good rider across country, he might have aspired to any honours that the country can give. Having entered upon the political arena to defend the faith against the machinations of its enemies, he has refused office, he has refused a peerage in order the better to devote himself to this object.

Vanity Fair, 'Men of the Day', No. 59, 1870.