John Benn Walsh, 1st Baron Ormathwaite (9 December 1798 – 3 April 1881), known as Sir John Walsh, Bt, between 1825 and 1868, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

and

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician.

Early life

He was born at

Warfield Warfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire and the borough of Bracknell Forest. History Warfield was originally an Anglo-Saxon settlement and is recorded in the Domesday Book as ''Warwelt'' ic The name is beli ...

Park, near

Bracknell Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, the only son of Sir John Walsh, 1st Baronet, and Margaret Benn. His mother and father were named Benn but had assumed the surname of Walsh in lieu of his patronymic in 1795, in accordance with the will of his wife's uncle Sir John Walsh (1726–1795), who left him a fortune made in India, including estates in Berkshire and Radnorshire, and also large holdings in Ireland, mainly in Cork and Kerry. Under the terms of the will, the Walsh fortune was to be managed by his parents until he came of age. 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

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 ...

, matriculating in 1816. He inherited the Radnorshire from his mother on attaining his majority in 1819 and also inherited his father's Cumbria estates on his death in 1825. By 1874 his total acreage in Radnorshire had reached 12,500. He also visited his Irish estates regularly over 40 years, and made great efforts to increase the profits. He had the reputation in Ireland of being a harsh and exacting landlord, but his diary shows that he saw himself as a benevolent overseer of his tenants, whom he rewarded for hard work, while ruthlessly evicting those who would not work.

Political career

He served as

High Sheriff of Berkshire The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff is therefore much older ...

and

High Sheriff of Radnorshire History The office of High Sheriff is over 1000 years old, with its establishment before the Norman Conquest. The Office of High Sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; ...

for 1823. He then sat as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Sudbury between 1830 and 1835 and 1838 and 1840 and for

Radnorshire , HQ = Presteigne , Government = Radnorshire County Council (1889–1974) Radnorshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin = , Status = historic county, administrative county , Start ...

between 1840 and 1868. He also served as

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

and Custos Rotulorum of Radnorshire from 1842 to 1875. In 1868 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Ormathwaite, of Ormathwaite in the County of Cumberland. He issued numerous pamphlets, amongst which were: * The Poor Laws in Ireland (1830) * Observations on the Ministerial Plan of Reform (1831) * On the Present Balance of Parties in the State (1832) * Chapters of Contemporary History (1836) * Political Back-Games (1871) * Astronomy and Geology Compared (1872) * Lessons of the French Revolution, 1789-1872 (1873).

Family

Lord Ormathwaite married Jane, daughter of

George Grey, 6th Earl of Stamford George Harry Booth-Grey, 6th Earl of Stamford and 2nd Earl of Warrington (31 October 1765 – 26 April 1845), styled Lord Grey from 1768 to 1819, was a British peer and parliamentarian. Booth-Grey was the eldest son of George Grey, 5th Ea ...

, in 1825. They had two sons and two daughters. He died at Warfield in April 1881, aged 82, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son,

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...

Arms

References

* * *
Information on the Walsh family

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ormathwaite, John Walsh, 1st Baron 1798 births 1881 deaths People from Warfield People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Walsh, John Lord-Lieutenants of Radnorshire High Sheriffs of Berkshire High Sheriffs of Radnorshire Deputy Lieutenants of Berkshire Walsh, John Walsh, John Walsh, John Walsh, John Walsh, John Walsh, John Walsh, John Walsh, John Walsh, John Walsh, John Walsh, John UK MPs who were granted peerages Tory MPs (pre-1834) Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria