Sir William Pierce Ashe à Court, 1st Baronet (c. 1747 – 22 July 1817) was a British soldier and

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). À Court was the son of General William Ashe-à Court and Anne Vernon. He represented

Heytesbury Heytesbury is a village (formerly considered to be a town) and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of the Wylye, about southeast of the town of Warminster. The civil parish includes most of the small neigh ...

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 1781 to 1790 and again from 1806 to 1807. In 1795 he was created a Baronet, of Heytesbury in the County of Wiltshire. He was appointed

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

of the

Wiltshire Militia The Royal Wiltshire Militia was a militia regiment in Great Britain and the later United Kingdom from 1758 to 1881, when it was amalgamated into The Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment). The regiment was organised in late 1758, as the Wiltshi ...

in 1797 and

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Gov ...

for 1812. À Court married, firstly, Catherine Bradford, daughter of John Bradford, in 1769. In 1777 Catherine A'Court died in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire; her memorial plaque in Cheltenham's parish church suggests this was due to her having been poisoned with arsenic by a servant. The following year à Court married Laetitia Wyndham, daughter of Henry Wyndham and sister of

Henry Penruddocke Wyndham Henry Penruddocke Wyndham (1736–1819) MP JP FSA FRS, was a British Whig Member of Parliament, topographer and author. Background Wyndham was born on 4 June 1736, the eldest surviving son of Henry Wyndham of St Edmund's College, Sal ...

, and together they had six children: *Letitia (d. 20 Jan 1810), who married

William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans (1 April 1767 – 19 January 1845), known as William Elliot until 1823, was a British diplomat and politician. Eliot was born at Port Eliot, Cornwall, the third son of Edward Craggs-Eliot, 1st Baron Eliot a ...

. They had no issue. *Maria (27 November 1862), who married the Hon.

Philip Pleydell-Bouverie Philip Pleydell-Bouverie (21 October 1788 – 27 May 1872), was a British Whig politician. Background Pleydell-Bouverie was a younger son of Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 2nd Earl of Radnor, by his wife the Hon. Anne, daughter of Anthony Duncombe ...

MP. They had five children. *

William 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 ...

(11 Jul 1779 – 31 May 1860) *Annabella (13 Feb 1781 – 27 May 1866), who married Richard Beadon, son of the Very Rev.

Richard Beadon Richard Beadon (15 April 1737 – 21 April 1824) was Master of Jesus College, Cambridge 1781–1789 and later Vice-Chancellor of the University, Bishop of Gloucester and Bishop of Bath and Wells. Life Beadon was born at Pinkworthy in Devon, so ...

. They had four sons, and a daughter. *Vice Adm. Edward Henry à Court Repington (10 Dec 1783 – 22 Sep 1855), later an MP for Tamworth. Unmarried. *Lt.-Gen. Charles Ashe à Court Repington (17 Jun 1785 – 19 Apr 1861), who married Mary Elizabeth Catherine Gibbs, granddaughter of Sir James Douglas, Foreign Minister to Naples. together they had

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

, and Charles Henry. He died in July 1817 and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son William, who became

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...

and was elevated to the peerage as

Baron Heytesbury Baron Heytesbury, of Heytesbury in the County of Wiltshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1828 for the prominent politician and diplomat William à Court, 1st Baron Heytesbury, Sir William à Court, 2nd Baron ...

in 1828. Lady à Court died in 1821. His granddaughter, Elizabeth (d. 1911) married in 1846 the Rt. Hon. Sidney Herbert and had seven children, including the 13th and 14th Earls of Pembroke & Montgomery.

Notes

References

* *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:A Court, William, 1st Baronet 1747 births 1817 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Wiltshire British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 Holmes à Court family Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1806–1807 British Militia officers High Sheriffs of Wiltshire