Sir Francis Burdett: His Last "Make Believe" Interview

Sir Francis Burdett, the 5th Baronet of Bramcote, has, for the most part, been forgotten by history. He was a member of the English House of Commons for 48 years, from 1796 to his death. For most of his career in Parliament, he was a “radical reformer” and the champion of the Westminster rabble that he represented. In addition to parliamentary reform, he championed free speech, prison reform, the Catholic emancipation, and the elimination of flogging. He survived an affair with Lady Oxford, a duel with James Paull, and two prison sentences. For several days in 1810, there were riots (and deaths) in the streets of London, as the government attempted to imprison Sir Francis in the Tower of London. This may have been as close as the English ever came to a French-style Revolution. The book takes the form of “an interview with a dead man.” The answers, for the most part, reflect his letters and speeches -- on the hustings and in the House of Commons.