George Glyn MP, 1st Baron Wolverton - ILN 1847, p

George Carr Glyn, 1st Baron Wolverton (27 March 1797 – 24 July 1873) was a

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

with interests in the railways, a partner in the family firm of Glyn, Mills & Co., which was reputed to be the largest private bank in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Background

He was the fourth son of Sir Richard Glyn, 1st Baronet, also a banker, and former

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

. His mother was the daughter of John Plumptre of Nottingham. The Wolvertons lived at the manor house in

Iwerne Minster Iwerne Minster ( ) is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. It lies on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, approximately midway between the towns of Shaftesbury and Blandford Forum. The A350 main road between those towns passes through th ...

, two miles south of Fontmell, in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

. They also owned Gaunts House,

Wimborne Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Poole ...

Business career

Glyn and his bank were important in the development of the railways - hence the link with

Wolverton Wolverton is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, England. It is located at the northern edge of Milton Keynes, beside the West Coast Main Line, the Grand Union Canal and the river Great Ouse. It is the administrative seat of Wolverton and G ...

. By the 1850s, over 200 railway companies, both domestic and foreign, banked with Glyn, Mills, and Co. In 1836 Glyn became Chairman of the

North Midland Railway The North Midland Railway was a British railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham (Masbrough) and Leeds in 1840. At Derby, it connected with the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at wha ...

, and in 1837 the second Chairman of the

London and Birmingham Railway The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR). The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...

. In 1841 he resigned his Chairmanship of the North Midland, but remained a director. In 1842, he founded the

Railway Clearing House The Railway Clearing House (RCH) was an organisation set up to manage the allocation of revenue collected by pre-grouping railway companies for the conveyance of passengers and goods over the lines (or using the rolling stock) of other compani ...

, an organization that helped determine payments by companies that operated trains to the many different companies that owned connecting tracks. In 1846, when the London and North Western Railway was formed, he was its Chairman until 1852. Glyn's bank served as one of the London agents for the provincial government of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and in 1852 he was a promoter of the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rail ...

. He was the first President of The Railway Benevolent Society, upon its creation, at a meeting at the

London Tavern The City of London Tavern or London Tavern was a notable meeting place in London during the 18th and 19th centuries. A place of business where people gathered to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, the tavern was situated in Bishopsgate ...

, on 8 May 1858. George presided at this meeting and gave a speech outlining his aims for this society: The first aim was to benefit the widow and orphan. The second aim was to educate the child. A resolution was carried unanimously, at that meeting, stating that the society should be called the Railway Benevolent Institution.

Political career

Apart from his business career Glyn also represented Kendal in 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 ...

from 1847 to 1868 as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

yet he never fought an election. He was unopposed at every general election from

1847 Events January–March * January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government. * January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends fighting in the Mexican–American War in California. * January 16 – John C. Frémont ...

up to and including his last contest in 1865, a total of five general elections without the need to politick for a single vote. On 14 December 1869 Glyn was raised to the peerage as Baron Wolverton, of

in the County of Buckingham.

Family

Lord Wolverton married Marianne Grenfell, daughter of

Pascoe Grenfell Pascoe Grenfell (3 September 1761 – 23 January 1838) was a British businessman and politician. Biography He was born at Marazion, in Cornwall. His father, Pascoe Grenfell (1729–1810), and uncle were merchants in the tin and copper business ...

, MP for Penryn, on 17 March 1823. They had nine sons and two daughters. Several of his sons gained distinction. *The Hon. Sidney Glyn and the Hon. Pascoe Glyn were both Members of Parliament. *The Right Reverend the Hon. Edward Glyn was Bishop of Peterborough and the father of

Ralph Glyn, 1st Baron Glyn Major Ralph George Campbell Glyn, 1st Baron Glyn, Bt, MC, DL (3 March 1884 – 1 May 1960), known as Sir Ralph Glyn, 1st Baronet, from 1934 to 1953, was a soldier and Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of Pa ...

. *The Hon. Henry Carr Glyn was a vice-admiral in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

Death

Lord Wolverton died in July 1873, aged 76, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son George Grenfell Glyn. Lady Wolverton died in March 1892.

References

*Michael Reed, 'Glyn, George Carr, first Baron Wolverton (1797–1873)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. * * F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results, 1832-1885''; Macmillan Press, 1977 p164

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolverton, George Carr Glyn, 1st Baron 1797 births 1873 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Glyn, George Glyn, George Glyn, George Glyn, George Glyn, George Glyn, George Glyn, George UK MPs who were granted peerages

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria