Charles Powlett, 3rd Duke of Bolton (sometimes spelled Paulet; 3 September 1685 – 26 August 1754), styled Earl of Wiltshire from 1685 until 1699, and Marquess of Winchester from 1699 until 1722, was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat in the English House of Commons from 1705 to 1708 and in the British House of Commons between 1708 and 1717, when he was raised to the peerage as Lord Powlett of Basing and sat in the House of Lords.
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Early life
Powlett was born in 1685 at Chawton, Hampshire, the eldest son of Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, and his second wife Frances Ramsden, daughter of William Ramsden of Byram, Yorkshire. He was educated at Enfield School although his father had to remove him in 1699 for absenteeism and unruly behaviour. He travelled abroad with Anthony Ashley from 1700 to 1704. In 1705 he was a volunteer in the Portuguese campaign.
Political career
Powlett was home in time to stand successfully as Whig at a by-election for Lymington on 7 December 1705. In 1708, he was elected MP for Hampshire in a close contest. However, the church interest supported the Tories following the Sacheverell trial, and he was defeated there in 1710 and 1713. In 1714 he was appointed Gentleman of the bedchamber to the Prince of Wales.