Townshend Mainwaring (16 March 1807 – 25 December 1883) was a

British Conservative Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...

politician.

Family

Townshend Mainwaring was born on 16 March 1807. He was the second son of the Reverend Charles Mainwaring, of Oteley Park,

Ellesmere, Shropshire Ellesmere ( ) is a town in Shropshire, England, located near the Welsh border and the towns of Oswestry, Whitchurch and Wrexham. It is notable for its proximity to a number of prominent Meres. History Ellesmere Castle was probably an 11th- ...

, and Sarah Susannah Townshend, daughter of John Townshend of Hem, Denbighshire. He attended

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and then

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

. Mainwaring married Anna Maria Salusbury, the eldest daughter of Colonel John Lloyd Salusbury of

Galltfaenan Hall Gallfaenan Hall, also known as Alltvaynan, is a Grade II listed building near to Trefnant and Henllan in Denbighshire, Wales. The site was established by the 16th century, when a branch of the Salusbury family bought it from the Ravenscroft fam ...

, in February 1837, at which time Mainwaring was living at

Marchwiel Hall Marchwiel Hall is a Grade II listed building in the village of Marchwiel, Wrexham County Borough in North Wales. History Marchwiel Hall was a seat of the Broughton family and by 1837 was occupied by Townshend Mainwaring, who then moved to Galltfa ...

. The couple went on to have two sons – Charles Salusbury Mainwaring and Reginald Kynaston Mainwaring – and two daughters.

Political career

Mainwaring became a magistrate in December 1837. Subsequently, he became the first of his family to be elected MP since

George Mainwaring (1642-1695) George Mainwaring (bapt. 10 December 1642 - 14 August 1695) was an English Member of Parliament and a member of a distinguished family line from Cheshire. George Mainwaring was the third surviving son of Randle Mainwaring and his wife, Elizabeth ...

. Described as a Liberal Conservative and a

Peelite The Peelites were a breakaway dissident political faction of the British Conservative Party from 1846 to 1859. Initially led by Robert Peel, the former Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader in 1846, the Peelites supported free trade whilst ...

, he was first elected for Denbigh Boroughs in

1841 Events January–March * January 20 – Charles Elliot of the United Kingdom, and Qishan of the Qing dynasty, agree to the Convention of Chuenpi. * January 26 – Britain occupies Hong Kong. Later in the year, the first census of the i ...

but stood down at the 1847 election. He returned to parliament for the same seat in

1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, ''Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Janua ...

and held it until

1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...

Other activities

In 1840, Mainwaring was

High Sheriff of Denbighshire The first High Sheriff of Denbighshire was John Salusbury, snr, appointed in 1540. The shrievalty of Denbighshire, together with that of Flintshire, continued until 1974 when it was abolished after the county and shrievalty of Clwyd was create ...

, and he was also at some point a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Denbighshire and the first

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

of the Denbighshire Rifle Volunteers. He was one of the chairman of the

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Eur ...

when it was held at

Ruthin Ruthin ( ; cy, Rhuthun) is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. It is Denbighshire's county town. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and ...

in 1868, days after sustaining severe injuries to his leg when his horse fell on him, and was involved with other similar events, including that at

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

in 1863. Considered to be a good musician, he also composed music. Mainwaring, who lived at Galltfaenan Hall in Denbighshire after his marriage, had a considerable involvement with the

Vale of Clwyd Railway The Vale of Clwyd Railway (VoCR) was a standard-gauge line which connected the towns of Rhyl and Denbigh via St Asaph in North Wales. It opened in 1858, at first without a connection to the main line at Rhyl, but this was provided in 1862. At D ...

, was involved with the

North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways The North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGR) was a railway company that planned to build a number of inter-connected narrow-gauge railways across North Wales. The first two of these lines - jointly known as the "Moel Tryfan Undertaking" - were ...

and supported the construction of the

Chester and Holyhead Railway The Chester and Holyhead Railway was an early railway company conceived to improve transmission of Government dispatches between London and Ireland, as well as ordinary railway objectives. Its construction was hugely expensive, chiefly due to ...

. He continued to own Marchwiel until his death at Galltfaenan on 25 December 1883, and also property and lands in other places. An obituary noted his benevolent financing of the construction of a church, parsonage and schools in

Trefnant Trefnant is a village and community in Denbighshire, Wales. It is located on the A525 road in the Vale of Clwyd (''Dyffryn Clwyd''), about halfway between St Asaph (''Llanelwy'') to the north and Denbigh to the south. At the 2001 Census, the c ...

, in memory of his father-in-law, as well as a convalescent home for men in Rhyl. He was also noted to be a supporter of a women's home in Rhyl and of the same town's Royal Alexandra Hospital. He was buried at Trefnant's Holy Trinity church.

References

Notes Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mainwaring, Townshend Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 1807 births 1883 deaths High Sheriffs of Denbighshire Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford People educated at Rugby School Townshend