Robert Williams (11 February 1767 – 10 March 1847) was an English banker and politician. He purchased the Bridehead estate near

Dorchester, Dorset Dorchester ( ) is the county town of Dorset, England. It is situated between Poole and Bridport on the A35 trunk route. A historic market town, Dorchester is on the banks of the River Frome to the south of the Dorset Downs and north of the ...

, around 1797. It comprised the manor of

Littlebredy Littlebredy (also written Little Bredy, pronounced ) is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, situated approximately west of the county town Dorchester. It is sited at the head of the valley of the small River Bri ...

, Bridehead being a name fabricated by Williams, and in later years became the main family residence. He was elected an alderman (1796–1801) and

sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery company, livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have ...

for 1797–8. He was prime warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company in 1810–11, director of the Hope Assurance Company in 1820 and chairman of the company from 1826 to 1841. During the time of the

French Revolutionary The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...

and

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, he served as an officer in the Cornhill Volunteers, from Captain in 1797, to Lieutenant Colonel commandant in 1799, and later served in the London and Westminster Light Horse from 1803 to 1807. Williams was the

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

Wootton Bassett Royal Wootton Bassett , formerly Wootton Bassett, is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 11,043 in 2001, increasing to 11,385 in 2011. Situated in the north of the county, it lies to the west of the major ...

from 1802 to 1807. On 17 March 1808 he was elected MP for

Grampound Grampound ( kw, Ponsmeur) is a village in Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and today is on the A390 road west of St Austell and east of Truro.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 ''Truro & Falmouth'' ...

after the previous election had been declared void on 7 March 1808. However he and

John Teed John Teed (c. 1770 – before 1837) was an English merchant, banker, and politician. Born to a family from Devon, by around 1804 Teed was established as a ship agent, banker, and merchant in Plymouth. In 1806 he unsuccessfully sought election to ...

were unseated on

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

on 10 May 1808 in favour of George Augustus Frederick Cochrane the previous member and

William Holmes William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

. Williams was then elected MP for

Kilkenny City Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilkenn ...

from 1809 to 1812, and for Dorchester from 1812 to 1835 He married Frances Turner of Putney. His eldest son was

Robert Williams (1811–1890) Robert Williams (23 January 1811 – 7 June 1890) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. Early life Williams was born on 23 January 1811. He was the eldest son of the English banker and politician Robert Williams MP and th ...

References

External links

* 1767 births 1847 deaths English accountants UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1831–1832 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Kilkenny constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Sheriffs of the City of London Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall {{England-UK-MP-stub