Humphry Morice (MP for Launceston)

Humphry Morice (1723 – 18 October 1785) was a Whig Member of Parliament for the Cornish parliamentary borough of Launceston from 2 February 1750 until 1780. The death of his second cousin in 1750 brought him great wealth and the electoral control of two Cornish boroughs, but his poor health and perhaps his personality prevented him from achieving high office. After 1760, he was frequently abroad in Italy, where he was a patron of Pompeo Batoni. He briefly achieved ministerial office in 1762 as Comptroller of the Household, possibly by accident; however, he was removed from that office in 1763, and although he was appointed Lord Warden of the Stannaries and was sworn of the Privy Council, he was not a significant political figure thereafter. Declining health and great expense made him sell out his electoral interests to the Duke of Northumberland in 1775. After 1782, he lived entirely abroad, dying in Naples in 1785. His love of animals was reflected in his will, wherein he left a substantial legacy to care for his horses and hounds.

He was the firstborn son of Humphry Morice, Governor of the Bank of England, by Morice's second wife Catherine. He succeeded his father in 1731, but did not inherit any great estate from him, as his father was discovered to have been embezzling on a large scale for years. In 1750, however, the younger Humphry inherited considerable wealth and the estate of Werrington, Cornwall (then in Devon) upon the death of his second cousin, Sir William Morice, 3rd Baronet. The estate brought with it electoral patronage which allowed Morice to select the Members of Parliament for the Cornish boroughs of Newport and Launceston; Morice had himself returned for the latter to replace his cousin after inheriting the estate.

...
Wikipedia