Only son of Hugh Inglis, 1st Baronet (1744–1820; Hist P), Director of the East India Company and MP for Ashburton 1802–1806. Inglis was exceptionally well connected – Robert Peel was a friend from their days at Oxford University. He was also close to William Wilberforce; in 1815 he became the guardian of the nine orphaned children of their mutual friend, the banker and abolitionist Henry Thornton (1760–1815; DNB). Inglis was MP for Dundalk 1824–1826, Ripon 1828–1829, and Oxford University 1829–1854, but never held high office. Instead, he forged a reputation as a staunch defender of the Church of England and opponent of political reform. He became a correspondent of Southey’s in 1817, and the two first met in London in May of that year when Inglis introduced Southey to a number of leading politicians. Southey respected Inglis’s piety, philanthropy and commitment to the Established Church.