General William Ashe-à Court (''c.'' 1708 – 2 August 1781) was a senior

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and 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 ...

. Born William à Court, he was the son of Pierce à Court, MP and Elizabeth Ashe of Ivy Church, Wiltshire. His older bother, Pierce A'Court-Ashe, was also an MP. He joined the

as an ensign in the

11th Foot The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. In 1958 ...

in 1726. He became a cornet in the

4th Dragoons Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in 1729 and in 1738 a lieutenant and captain in the

2nd Foot Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

, in which regiment he was subsequently promoted captain and lieutenant-colonel in 1745, 2nd major and colonel in 1755, major-general in 1759 and lieutenant-general in 1765. He served in Flanders during the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's W ...

(1740–48). He was given the colonelcy of the

in 1765, a position he held until his death. He was made full general on 19 March 1778. He also sat as Member of Parliament for

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 ...

between 1751 and 1781. In 1768 he assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Ashe in compliance with the will of his uncle, Edward Ashe. He died in 1781. He had married Annabella Vernon, daughter of Thomas Vernon, in 1746. Their only son

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 ...

succeeded him as MP for Heytesbury and was created a baronet in 1795. His grandson, also named

, was raised 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.

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * * {{Authority control 1700s births 1781 deaths Devonshire Regiment officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British Army generals British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession Coldstream Guards officers