Basic Information
Name: David Hartley
Nickname: David Hartley the Younger
Born: 1731
Died: December 19, 1813
Nationality: English
Hometown: Bath, Somerset, England
WORK & EDUCATION
Occupation: Pamphleteer, inventor, member of the House of Commons
Education: Corpus Christi College, Oxford
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Parents: David Hartley the Elder, Alice Rowley
Siblings: None
Spouse: Unknown
Children: Unknown
Friends: Benjamin Franklin, Lord Rockingham, Lord North
Foes: William Petty (a.k.a. The Earl of Shelburne)
Analysis
Being the child of a famous person has got to be rough. You can either live in the shadow of your mom or dad…or beat them at their own fame-game, Angelina Jolie/ Jane Fonda-style.
David Hartley took the middle road.
Hartley's father (also named David) was a philosopher who founded the Associationism school of psychology. David Jr. decided to go into a totally different field of work—he was a member of the House of Commons and a friend of Ben Franklin's from back when Franklin spent some time in England.
So, ironically enough, when Franklin was being turned off from his loyalty to England, he was meeting a guy who would be one of his dear English friends, and who would eventually sign the treaty that ended the Revolutionary War.
Hartley was a guy who spent a large part of his political life on the right side of history. He opposed the Revolutionary War (in that there was a way for the colonies and England to peaceful get along), and the African slave trade. (Source)
Hartley and Franklin were the two primary architects behind the Treaty of Paris. This might be one of the reasons this doc is so generous to the United States—Hartley was sympathetic to the colonists, and Ben was savvy enough to use his friendship with Hartley to his advantage.