Sir William Edward Rouse-Boughton, 2nd and 10th Baronet (14 September 1788 – 22 May 1856) was a

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 ...

for

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

Origins

He was the only son and heir of Sir Charles Rouse Boughton, 1st and 9th Baronet (d.1821) by his wife Catherine Pearce Hall. He had two sisters, Louisa and Caroline.

Career

He is said to have attended

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

from 1803 to 1805, but the records are not clear. He attended Christ Church,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

after which for several years he enjoyed a European

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

until 1813. In 1818 he was nominated as

for the

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...

of Evesham, which seat his father had held, but was ousted on petition by Sir Charles Cockerell. His political leanings were far from clear and in his address of thanks, he described himself as "unbiased by any political party of connexion". He regained his seat in 1820 and he remained MP for Evesham until 1825. His opposition leanings became apparent once in office. He inherited the two baronetcies after his father's death in 1821.

Marriage and children

On 24 March 1824 he married Charlotte Knight (1800–1842), a renowned horticulturalist, the daughter and heiress of the horticulturalist Thomas Knight by his wife, a member of the Fenton family known as the celebrated Grecian "Miss Fenton". Thomas Knight had inherited

Downton Hall Downton Hall is a privately owned 18th-century country house at Stanton Lacy, near Ludlow, Shropshire. It is a Grade II* listed building. The house was built about 1733 by Wredenhall Pearce, who had inherited the estate in 1731. The new hous ...

near

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...

from his brother the art connoisseur Payne Knight (d.1824), MP, and thus it passed to the Rouse-Boughton family. He had three sons and five daughters. On his death he left £10,000 to each of his daughters and £100 to each of his sisters (Louisa and Caroline). The rest was inherited by his eldest son.

References

* R G Thorne ''History of Parliament:The Commons - 1790-1820'', HMSO * Castlereagh Correspondence ix.11

External links

* 1788 births 1856 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford {{England-UK-MP-stub

Origins

Career

Marriage and children

See also

References

External links