Frederick Villiers Meynell (24 March 1801 – 27 May 1872), known as Frederick Villiers during his political career, was a British Whig politician. Villiers, or Meynell, was the

natural Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

son of a Mr Meynell and a Miss Hunlocke. Sponsored by the Villiers family, although not related to it, in early life he was known as Frederick Villiers. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he became known as "Savage Villiers" (while Charles Villiers was "Civil Villiers") and was called to the Bar from Lincoln's Inn. He later adopted his biological father's surname of Meynell.Fisher, Michael, ''The inordinately Strange Life of Dyce Sombre: Victorian Anglo-Indian MP and Chancery 'Lunatic' '', Columbia University Press
p. 178
/ref> He was returned to parliament for the

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 ...

Saltash Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Corn ...

in 1832, but lost his seat the following year when the constituency was abolished in the

Great Reform Act The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

. In January 1835 he was elected for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

. However, he was unseated on petition already in March of that year on the grounds that he had not enough real estate income and for having bribed the voters. He stood for the same constituency in 1837 but was heavily defeated. In 1841 he returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

when he was elected for Sudbury alongside David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre, who spent approximately £3,000 on the election. In parliament he notably spoke against the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They wer ...

. However, in April 1842 his and Dyce Sombre's elections were declared void due to "gross, systematic and extensive bribery". In 1844 the constituency was disfranchised on the grounds of corruption. He was later given a sinecure by

Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

Sir Alexander Cockburn Sir Alexander James Edmund Cockburn, 12th Baronet (24 September 1802 – 20 November 1880) was a British jurist and politician who served as the Lord Chief Justice for 21 years. He heard some of the leading '' causes célèbres'' of the nin ...

, a Cambridge contemporary, who appointed him a Registrar of Deeds for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

. The actual work was done by a deputy. Meynell died in May 1872, aged 71. He was buried in Haywards Heath, Sussex.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk Tomb to Frederick Villiers Meynell to East of Church of St Wilfred, Haywards Heath
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meynell, Frederick Villiers 1801 births 1872 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Saltash Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1841–1847 Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies