Gents Mag 1829 part 1 p.178

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	Gentleman's Magazine 1829 part 1 p.178
obituary   John Christian Curwen
	Obituary, John Christian Curwen J. C. CURWEN, ESQ. M.P. Dec. 11. At Workington Hall, Cumberland, aged 72, John Christian Curwen, esq. M.P. for the county of Cumberland. This gentleman's paternal name was Christian. He was a member of the ancient and very respectable family of M'Christen, of the Isle of Man, "who," says Lysons, "for several generations were Deemsters or Judges of that Island. They appear first to have written their name Christian about the year 1600. Ewan Christian, esq. the fist of the family, who settled at Unerigg, (or Ewanrigg) died in 1719." At the age of about 20, Mr. Curwen, then Mr. Christian, married miss Taubman, of the Isle of Man, by whom he had issue the present John Christian, esq. now one of the Deemsters of that Island. On the death of his first wife, Mr. Curwen married his cousin, Miss Curwen, only daughter of the late Henry Curwen, esq. of Workington Hall, and the last of the family of that name; Mr. Curwen therefore added Curwen to his name of Christian in 1790, by the King's sign manual. Mr. Curwen served the office of High Sheriff of Cumberland in 1784. He began his political career in 1786, in which year, on a vacancy for the city of Carlisle, he stood a warm and at first unsuccessful struggle, but was established in his seat after a petition. His fortune was similar at the general election in 1790; when, after a double return, he was declared duly elected. At the general elections of 1796, 1802, 1806, and 1807 he was again chosen; and he retained his seat till 1812. The tide of popular favour then beggan to flow against him; he was opposed by the late Henry Fawcett, esq., and very early quitted the field, in just anger, his friends alleged, at the fickleness of that many-headed master whose humours it had been his pride and pleasure to serve. On Mr. Fawcett's death in 1816, however, Mr. Curwen was prevailed upon again to offer himself; and he was elected again after a sharp struggle with the late Sir Philip Musgrave, Bart., who on that occasion made his first essay in public life - and , young as he was, fought a good fight against the political veteran. In June 1818, Mr. Curwen, in conjunction with the late Sir James Graham, Bart. of Edmund Castle, was re-elected for Carlisle, without any other impediment than that opposed by the trifling pretensions of Mr. Parkins. In the succeeding week, Mr. Curwen made a demonstration in favour of the county representation, much to the disrelish of his old friends in Carlisle; and even offered to contest the county, in union with Lord Morpeth, but his Lordship declined, and Mr. Curwen retired, satisfied with showing that he possessed an influence which he did not then think it prudent to exercise. This very naturally laid the foundation of a schism among the Whig or Blue party, which is still in existence. At the general election which shortly followed the King's death in 1820, Mr. Curwen, to the public surprise, once more presented himself to the freemen of Carlisle, and was at first very coolly received, but was eventually returned. At the Cumberland election, which shortly followed, Mr. Curwen declared himself a candidate for the county representation, and succeeded in ousting Lord Morpeth without a contest. In 1826, he was again returned for Cumberland, and met with no opposition. These choppings and changings did Mr. Curwen much injury in the popular estimation. Mr. Curwen was in early life actuated by a just sense of the importance of rural improvement. This incessantly engaged his attention. By subduing the sterility of his own estate - fertilizing the barren waste - stimulating the inert - meliorating the durid and tenacious - draining the swamp - and by giving depth and superior qualities to the staple of the land, he insured a luxuriance of crop, in spite of an ungrateful soil, and cold rainy climate. He also introduced every kind of improvement, which, under his superin-
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