Horace Twiss KC (28 February 1787 – 4 May 1849) was an English writer and politician.

Life

Twiss was born at

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

, the son of

Francis Twiss Francis Twiss (bapt. 1759 – 1827) was an English drama critic, known as the compiler of a concordance to William Shakespeare. Life He was the son of Francis Twiss, a merchant from Norwich, and was baptised in Rotterdam on 5 April 1759; Richard ...

(1760–1827) and his wife Frances née Kemble (sister of

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder sister of John ...

née Kemble). He was a

Shakespearian William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

scholar. In his youth he wrote light articles for newspapers; he became a successful lawyer and was appointed a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1827. In 1820 he was elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, where, with some interruptions, he sat until 1841, holding the office of

Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies The Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies was a junior Ministerial post in the United Kingdom government, subordinate to the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. In 1801 the offices of Under-Secretary of State for War and Und ...

in 1828–1830. In 1844 he was appointed vice-chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, a well-paid post which enabled him to enjoy his popularity in London society. For some years he wrote for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', in which he first compiled the parliamentary summary, and his daughter married first Francis Bacon (d. 1840) and then J. T. Delane, both of them editors of that paper. He was the author of ''The Public and Private Life of Lord Chancellor Eldon'', and other volumes. He died suddenly in London on 4 May 1849, aged 62. He was survived by his son,

Quintin Twiss Quintin William Francis Twiss (13 March 1835 – 7 August 1900) was an English first-class cricketer and actor. The son of the politician Horace Twiss, he was born at Westminster in March 1835. Twiss was educated at Westminster School, before g ...

Notes

References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Twiss, Horace 1787 births 1849 deaths English male journalists Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies People from Bath, Somerset UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837