Sir Hedworth Williamson, 7th Baronet (1 November 1797 – 24 April 1861) was an English Whig politician who sat 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. ...

in two periods between 1831 and 1852. He was educated at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

. Williamson was the son of Sir Hedworth Williamson, 6th Baronet. He inherited the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

from his father in 1810.

Career

Williamson was elected

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

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

at the 1831 general election and held the seat until 1832 when it was divided under the

Great Reform Act The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

. He was then elected at the 1832 general election as an MP for

North Durham North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, and held the seat until he stood down at the 1837 general election. He was

High Sheriff of Durham This is a list of the High Sheriffs of County Durham, England. In most counties the High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. In the Palatinate of Durham the officeholder was appointed by and was accountable to the Bishop of D ...

in 1840. In December 1847 he was elected at a by-election as MP for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Craig, page 295 and held the seat until he stood down at the 1852 general election.

Marriage and family

Williamson married Anne Elizabeth Liddell (1801–1878), daughter of the first

Baron Ravensworth Baron Ravensworth, of Ravensworth Castle in the County Palatine of Durham and of Eslington Park in the County of Northumberland, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1821 for Sir Thomas Liddell, 6th Baronet. Th ...

. Their son Hedworth succeeded to the baronetcy. Their daughter Maria Dorothea married David Barclay who was also an MP for Sunderland.

References

External links

* 1797 births 1861 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Whig (British political party) MPs Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1847–1852 High Sheriffs of Durham {{England-baronet-stub