Boscawen was the eldest son of Edward Boscawen (1628–1685), MP and merchant, by his wife Jael Godolphin, daughter of Sir Francis Godolphin (d. 1667). The Boscawens are an ancient Cornish family. His grandfather Hugh Boscawen (fl. 1620) of Tregothnan was thirteenth in descent from a certain Henry de Boscawen.[4] He derived a huge income from his copper mines at Chacewater and Gwennap where he was the principal landowner.[5] The Chacewater mine, now known as Wheal Busy, was located in what was known at the time as "the richest square mile on Earth". During its life, it produced over 100,000 tons of copper ore and 27,000 tons of arsenic.[6] His uncles Hugh Boscawen (1625–1701) and Charles Boscawen (1627–1689) were also MPs in Cornwall.
Boscawen had absolute control of the parliamentary representation of the boroughs of Tregony and Truro, and he exercised considerable influence on the elections for Penryn. He was elected Member of Parliament for Tregony from 1702 to 1705, for the county of Cornwall from 1705 to 1710, for Truro from 1710 to 1713, and for Penryn from 1713 until June 1720. In 1720 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Boscawen and Viscount Falmouth, having been for some time discontented at the delay in his advancement to that position. Both before and after the accession of George I he spent large sums of money in support of Whig principles, and was rewarded on his party's triumph by many valuable offices.
Boscawen married on 23 April 1700 in Henry VII's Chapel, Westminster Abbey, Charlotte Godfrey elder daughter and coheir of Colonel Charles Godfrey, master of the jewel office and his wife Arabella Churchill. Charlotte died on 22 March 1754, and was also buried at Penkivel. She had wanted to become a lady of the bedchamber to the wife of King George II, and tried to bribe Lady Sundon (Charlotte Clayton Sundon) into obtaining the post for her.[8] Their children included:
William Augustus Spencer Boscawen, MP (7 January 1750 – 1828). Son of John, and his wife Thomasine, who died before William's baptism at St James's Church, Piccadilly, on 30 January 1750.[9][10]
^Foster, Joseph (1882). Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of the British Empire for 1882. Vol. 1. London. p. 273.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Kain, Roger; Ravenhill, William, eds. (1999). Historical atlas of South-West England. University of Exeter Press. p. 293. ISBN9780859894340.
