John Upton

John Upton may refer to:

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John Upton (died 1641)

John Upton (7 April 1590 – 12 September 1641) of Lupton in Devon was four times elected MP for Dartmouth at various times between 1625 and 1641.

Origins

The ancient family of Upton originated at the Cornish manor of Upton. A notable member of this family was Nicholas Upton (c.1400–1457), English cleric, Precentor of Salisbury, and writer on heraldry and the art of war. Before inheriting Lupton this branch of the family were seated at Puslinch.

John Upton was born and baptised at Weare Giffard, North Devon, the 3rd son and heir of Arthur Upton of Lupton, in the parish of Brixham, South Devon, and his wife Gertrude Fortescue (d.1598) daughter of Hugh Fortescue of Filleigh and Weare Giffard.

Career

In 1625, he was elected Member of Parliament for Dartmouth. He was re-elected MP for Dartmouth in 1626 and 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. In April 1640, Upton was re-elected MP for Dartmouth in the Short Parliament. He was re-elected for the Long Parliament in November 1640, but died the following year.

John Upton (civil engineer)

John Upton (ca 1774 – 1851) was born in Petworth, Sussex, England. He was a civil engineer and contractor working on roads, canals and ports first in England and later in Russia.

English career

His father, John Upton, was a surveyor to the George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont at Petworth House. The Earl took a great interest in road and waterway improvements. It seems probable that the young Upton gained basic engineering skills partly from his father and from working on schemes sponsored by the Earl. In 1815 he was working on the stalled project to build a canal from Gloucester to join the river Severn at Berkeley. He published a plan that the canal should join the river at Sharpness rather than Berkeley - a plan that was eventually adopted. He was also working as a construction contractor, principally in South Wales. By 1819 he had become surveyor for part of the London to Holyhead road running from Stoney Stratford, near Milton Keynes, to Dunchurch, Warwickshire under the overall direction of Thomas Telford who seems to have had a high regard for Upton's engineering skills.