Sir William Humfreys, 1st Baronet (also spelled Humphreys; died 26 October 1735), was a British ironmonger and 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. ...
from 1715 to 1722. He was
Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...
for 1714–15 and a Director of the Bank of England between 1719 and 1730.
![Hever Castle 2014 06 20 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Hever_Castle_2014_06_20_1.jpg)
He was the only son of ironmonger Nathaniel Humfreys of Candlewick Street, London. His father was the second son of William Ap Humfrey, of Penrhyn,
Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire, also known as ''Maldwyn'' ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town"), is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county tow ...
. He followed his father into the ironmongery trade of London, and was Master of the
Worshipful Company of Ironmongers
The Worshipful Company of Ironmongers is one of the Great Twelve livery companies of the City of London, incorporated under a Royal Charter in 1463.
History
The Ironmongers, who were originally known as the Ferroners, were incorporated unde ...
in 1705. He became an oilman and
drysalter
Drysalters were dealers in a range of chemical products, including glue, varnish, dye and colourings. They might supply salt or chemicals for preserving food and sometimes also sold pickles, dried meat or related items. The name ''drysalter'' or '' ...
in
Poultry, London
Poultry (formerly also Poultrey) is a short street in the City of London, which is the historic nucleus and modern financial centre of London. It is an eastern continuation of Cheapside, between Old Jewry and Mansion House Street, towards Bank ...
, living afterwards in
Bloomsbury Square
Bloomsbury Square is a garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, London. Developed in the late 17th century, it was initially known as Southampton Square and was one of the earliest London squares. By the early 19th century, Be ...
.
Cokayne, George Edward
George Edward Cokayne, (29 April 1825 – 6 August 1911), was an English genealogist and long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London, who eventually rose to the rank of Clarenceux King of Arms. He wrote such authoritative and standar ...
(1906)
Complete Baronetage
'. Volume V. Exeter: W. Pollard & Co. . pp. 21–22
Humfreys was
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 ...
, 1704–05, and was knighted on 26 October 1704. He was
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
of
Cheap Ward from 29 July 1707, and of
Bridge Without
Bridge Without was a historical ward of the City of London situated to the south of the River Thames, which existed between 1550 and 1899. The area of the Bridge Without ward today forms part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was so-called to ...
from 25 January 1733 until his death. From 1711 to 1715, he was a Director of the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
. He was
Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...
for 1714–15, and in that capacity officiated on 20 October 1714 at the
Coronation of the British monarch
The coronation of the monarch of the United Kingdom is a ceremony (specifically, initiation rite) in which they are formally invested with regalia and crowned at Westminster Abbey. It corresponds to the coronations that formerly took place in ot ...
,
George I of Great Britain
George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first ...
, entertaining the King and his court at
Guildhall, London
Guildhall is a municipal building in the Moorgate area of the City of London, England. It is off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. The building has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is ...
. He was created a
baronet
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 ...
in the
baronetage of Great Britain
Baronets are a rank in the British aristocracy. The current Baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier but existing Baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland, and Great Britain.
Baronetage of England (1611–1705)
King James I ...
on 30 November 1714.
[
He was ]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 ...
in the Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdo ...
for Marlborough
Marlborough may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Marlborough, Wiltshire, England
** Marlborough College, public school
* Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England
* The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England
Austral ...
from 1715
Events
For dates within Great Britain and the British Empire, as well as in the Russian Empire, the "old style" Julian calendar was used in 1715, and can be converted to the "new style" Gregorian calendar (adopted in the British Empire i ...
to 1722
Events
January–March
* January 27 – Daniel Defoe's novel ''Moll Flanders'' is published anonymously in London.
* February 10 – The Battle of Cape Lopez begins off of the coast of West Africa (and present-day Gabon), as ...
. and a Director of the Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...
in 1719–21, 1722–25, 1726–27 and 1728–30. He was President of Bridewell and Bethlehem Hospitals
The Bridewell and Bethlehem Hospitals were two charitable foundations that were independently put into the charge of the City of London. They were brought under joint administration in 1557.
Bethlehem Hospital
The Bethlem Royal Hospital was foun ...
, Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
s of Barking
Barking may refer to:
Places
* Barking, London, a town in East London, England
** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking
** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...
and Dagenham
Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross.
It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...
.[
]
Private life
He married firstly Margaret Wintour, daughter of William Wintour of Dymock
Dymock is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean district of Gloucestershire, England, about four miles south of Ledbury. In 2014 the parish had an estimated population of 1,205.
Dymock is the origin of the Dymock Red, a cider apple ...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
with whom he had a son, Orlando. She died on 19 August 1704, and was buried at St Mildred, Poultry
St Mildred, Poultry, was a parish church in the Cheap (ward), Cheap ward of the City of London dedicated to Anglo-Saxon Mildrith, Saint Mildred. It was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London, and demolished in 1872. St Mildred in the Poultry was ...
. He married secondly, on 6 January 1705 at Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End.
...
Chapel, Ellen, the widow of Col. Robert Lancashire of London. He had no issue by his second wife, who died on 25 March 1732.
In 1715 Humfreys bought Hever Castle
Hever Castle ( ) is located in the village of Hever, Kent, near Edenbridge, south-east of London, England. It began as a country house, built in the 13th century. From 1462 to 1539, it was the seat of the Boleyn (originally 'Bullen') family.
...
in Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
from James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave
James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave, (168411 April 1741) was a British diplomat who served as ambassador to Austria and France.
Life
Waldegrave was the son of the 1st Baron Waldegrave and Henrietta FitzJames, the illegitimate daughter of ...
.
He died on 26 October 1735, and was buried on 6 November 1735 at St Mildred, Poultry. He was succeeded by his only son, Orlando, who married Ellen Lancashire, his stepmother's daughter by her first husband. Orlando died without surviving male issue on 14 June 1737, his only son (Robert) having died a few months before on 17 January; the baronetcy thus became extinct. His widow died on 3 April 1745.[ In the complicated family circumstances Hever Castle was sold in 1749 to Timothy Waldo.][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Humphreys, William, 1st Baronet
1735 deaths
Ironmongers
Masters of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers
Aldermen of the City of London
Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
Sheriffs of the City of London
18th-century lord mayors of London
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
British MPs 1715–1722
Year of birth unknown