Charles Watkin Williams-Wynn
PC (9 October 1775 – 2 September 1850) was a
British politician
The United Kingdom is a unitary state with devolution that is governed within the framework of a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy in which the monarch, currently Charles III, King of the United Kingdom, is the hea ...
of the early- to mid-19th century. He held office in both
Tory and
Whig administrations and was
Father of the House of Commons between 1847 and 1850.
Background and education
Born into an ancient and grand Welsh family, Williams-Wynn was the second son of
Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet
Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet (23 September 1749 – 24 July 1789) was a Welsh landowner, politician and patron of the arts. The Williams-Wynn baronets had been begun in 1688 by the politician Sir William Williams, 1st Baronet, but ha ...
, by his second wife
Charlotte Grenville, daughter of Prime Minister
George Grenville. His great-great-grandfather
Sir William Williams, 1st Baronet, served as
Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings.
Systems that have such a position include:
*Speaker of ...
from 1680 to 1685. On his mother's side he was the nephew of
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration of ...
and
George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham and the first cousin of
Richard Temple-Grenville, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. Williams-Wynn was educated privately, at
Westminster School and
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...
. He was called to the Bar,
Lincoln's Inn, in 1798. At
Westminster School Williams-Wynn became acquainted with the poet
Robert Southey, whom he later supported financially.
Political career
In 1797 he was elected to parliament for the notorious
rotten borough
A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorate ...
of
Old Sarum
Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the now ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest r ...
, where he succeeded
Richard Wellesley, 2nd Earl of Mornington
Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, (20 June 1760 – 26 September 1842) was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator. He was styled as Viscount Wellesley until 1781, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of M ...
. He resigned this seat in 1799, when he was elected for
Montgomeryshire
, HQ= Montgomery
, Government= Montgomeryshire County Council (1889–1974)Montgomeryshire District Council (1974–1996)
, Origin=
, Status=
, Start=
, End= ...
, which constituency he would represent for the next 51 years. In 1806 he was appointed
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
This article lists past and present Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State serving the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom at the Home Office.
Non-permanent and parliamentary under-secretaries, 1782–present
*April 1782: Evan Nepean
*April ...
in the
Ministry of All the Talents led by his uncle
Lord Grenville
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration of ...
. He remained in this post until the government fell the following year. Williams-Wynn was an active member of parliament and considered an authority on the procedure of the
House of Commons. This led him to be nominated for the post of
Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings.
Systems that have such a position include:
*Speaker of ...
in 1817. However, he was defeated by
Charles Manners-Sutton
Charles Manners-Sutton (17 February 1755 – 21 July 1828; called Charles Manners before 1762) was a bishop in the Church of England who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1805 to 1828.
Life
Manners-Sutton was the fourth son of Lord G ...
. During the late 1810s Williams-Wynn was leader of
a group of MPs that tried to establish a
third party
Third party may refer to:
Business
* Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller
* Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party
* Third-party insurance, such as a V ...
in the House of Commons, acting on behalf of his cousin
Lord Buckingham. However, the third party never materialised and the group instead joined the
Tories.
In January 1822 Williams-Wynn was admitted to the
Privy Council and appointed
President of the Board of Control
The President of the Board of Control was a British government official in the late 18th and early 19th century responsible for overseeing the British East India Company and generally serving as the chief official in London responsible for Indian ...
, with a seat in the cabinet, in the
Tory government of the
Earl of Liverpool
Earl of Liverpool is a title that has been created twice in British history. The first time was in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1796 for Charles Jenkinson, 1st Baron Hawkesbury, a favourite of King George III (see Jenkinson baronets for ...
. He remained in this post also in the administrations of
George Canning and
Lord Goderich
Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon, (1 November 1782 – 28 January 1859), styled The Honourable F. J. Robinson until 1827 and known between 1827 and 1833 as The Viscount Goderich (pronounced ), the name by which he is best known to ...
. However, when the
Duke of Wellington became
Prime Minister in 1828, Williams-Wynn was not offered a position in the government.
This drove him into opposition, and when the
Whigs came to power in November 1830 under
Lord Grey, Williams-Wynn was appointed
Secretary at War
The Secretary at War was a political position in the English and later British government, with some responsibility over the administration and organization of the Army, but not over military policy. The Secretary at War ran the War Office. Aft ...
, although without a seat in the cabinet. He only remained in this post until April the following year, and held no other position during the three remaining years of the
Whig government. In 1834 the
Tories returned to office under
Sir Robert Peel, and Wynn was appointed
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...
, but again was not a member of the cabinet. The Peel government fell already in April 1835 and Wynn never held office again. However, he was said to have thrice rejected the post of
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom
The monarchy of the United Kin ...
. Wynn remained Member of Parliament for
Montgomeryshire
, HQ= Montgomery
, Government= Montgomeryshire County Council (1889–1974)Montgomeryshire District Council (1974–1996)
, Origin=
, Status=
, Start=
, End= ...
until his death, and from 1847 to 1850 he was
Father of the House of Commons; at the time of his death, he was the final MP from the 18th century still in Parliament.
He was elected as the first president, from 1823 to 1841, of the
Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland
The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...
and as a
Fellow of the Royal Society in 1827.
Family
Wynn married Mary Cunliffe, daughter of
Sir Foster Cunliffe, 3rd Baronet and Harriet Kinloch, in 1806. They had seven children, two sons and five daughters. His eldest daughter
Charlotte Williams-Wynn Charlotte Williams-Wynn may refer to:
*Charlotte Williams-Wynn (aristocrat) (1754–1830), British aristocrat, daughter of Prime Minister George Grenville
*Charlotte Williams-Wynn (diarist) (1807–1869), her granddaughter, British letter-writer an ...
was a well-known diarist; his son, also named
Charles, followed him into Parliament. Williams-Wynn died in September 1850, aged 74.
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams-Wynn, Charles Watkin
1775 births
1850 deaths
Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies
British MPs 1796–1800
UK MPs 1801–1802
UK MPs 1802–1806
UK MPs 1806–1807
UK MPs 1807–1812
UK MPs 1812–1818
UK MPs 1818–1820
UK MPs 1820–1826
UK MPs 1826–1830
UK MPs 1830–1831
UK MPs 1831–1832
UK MPs 1832–1835
UK MPs 1835–1837
UK MPs 1837–1841
UK MPs 1841–1847
UK MPs 1847–1852
Younger sons of baronets
Fellows of the Royal Society
Presidents of the Royal Asiatic Society
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Presidents of the Board of Control