Michael Williams (3 June 1785 – 15 June 1858) was a mining entrepreneur and politician, the MP for West Cornwall from 19 July 1853 until his death in June 1858.

Garry Tregidga Garry Harcourt Tregidga is a Cornish academic, director of the Institute of Cornish Studies at the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall, UK, and editor of the journal '' Cornish Studies''. He lives in Bugle, near St Austell, an ...

"Williams, John Charles (1861–1939)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, May 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2017. He was the second son of John Williams "the Third" (23 September 1753 – 17 April 1841), the Cornish industrialist, of the Williams family. He bought

Caerhays Castle Caerhays Castle or Carhayes Castle (translation of ''caerhays'' into English: "enclosed castle") is a semi-castellated country house built in 1808, south of the village centre, St Michael Caerhays, Cornwall, England. It overlooks Porthluney Cove ...

. On 5 March 1813, he married Elizabeth Eales (d. 1852).

Business interests

The Williams family bought the Morfa Copper Smelting Works in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

in 1831. Michael Williams was vested with the responsibility of the Welsh business and was appointed

High Sheriff of Glamorgan This page is a list of High Sheriffs of Glamorgan. Sheriffs of Glamorgan served under and were answerable to the independent Lords of Glamorgan until that lordship was merged into the crown. This is in contrast to sheriffs of the English shires wh ...

for 1840. He was a Director of the

Cornwall Railway The Cornwall Railway was a broad gauge railway from Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth in Cornwall, England, built in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was constantly beset with shortage of capital for the construction, and was eventu ...

and chaired its Ordinary Meeting on 3 March 1854, whose proceedings were reported in ''The Times'', in two advertisements on 10 March. He was still the chair of the Company in June 1857, when a Special General Meeting was announced. He was also a partner in the Cornish Bank, which was largely owned by his family.

Politics

He was the only nomination as MP for West Cornwall, at a by-election, following the death of

Edward Wynne-Pendarves Edward William Wynne Pendarves (6 April 1775 – 26 June 1853) was an English politician. Born Edward William Stackhouse, he was son of John Stackhouse and his wife Susanna Acton. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for West Cornwall fro ...

, on 26 June 1853. Michael Williams and

Richard Davey Richard Innes Davey (4 November 1938 – 13 March 2013) was an Australian actor, director and writer. He was the founder of the Round Earth Company and advocate for the understanding of the Macquarie Harbour Penal Station on Sarah Island ...

were returned unopposed as Liberals on 19 July 1857. He was re-elected, again without opposition, at the General Election of 1857.

Death

''The Times'' received by electric telegraph and published on 16 June, news of his death "a little after 5 o'clock" on 15 June 1858 at Trevince.''The Times'', Wednesday, 16 June 1858; pg. 5; Issue 23021; col D He was aged 74.

References

External links

Michael Williams and John Charles Williams
in ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' * 1785 births 1858 deaths Politicians from Cornwall High Sheriffs of Glamorgan Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub