Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet (1770–1844): Burdett was descended from a long line of Midlands landowners and inherited a Baronetcy from his grandfather, Sir Robert Burdett (1716–1797) in 1797. He acquired further wealth from his marriage to Sophia Coutts (1775–1844), a banking heiress, in 1793. Burdett first entered Parliament in 1796 and was MP for Boroughbridge 1796–1802, Middlesex 1802–1804 and 1805–1806, Westminster 1807–1837 and Wiltshire North 1837–1844. He soon gained fame as an opponent of the war with France, a supporter of Radicals and an advocate of universal suffrage. Southey had briefly overlapped with Burdett at Westminster School and was initially fairly positive in his view of him, but became increasingly hostile in 1811–1812 as his fears of revolution increased.