William Christmas (c. 1798 – 22 March 1867) was an

Irish Conservative Party The Irish Conservative Party, often called the Irish Tories, was one of the dominant Irish political parties in Ireland in the 19th century. It was affiliated with the Conservative Party in Great Britain. Throughout much of the century it and th ...

politician from

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

. He was the eldest son of Thomas Christmas of Whitfield,

High Sheriff of County Waterford The High Sheriff of County Waterford was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Waterford. Initially, an office for a lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became an annual appointment following the Provisions of Oxfor ...

and his cousin Ada Osborne, daughter of

Sir William Osborne, 8th Baronet Sir William Osborne, 8th Baronet, (d. 30 September 1783) was an Irish baronet and politician. Biography The son of Sir John Osborne, 7th Baronet and his wife Editha Proby, he succeeded in the baronetcy on 11 April 1743. Osborne served as Hig ...

and Elizabeth Christmas, daughter of

Thomas Christmas Thomas Christmas was an Irish politician. Christmas was born in Waterford, son of Richard Christmas, High Sheriff of Waterford in 1686, and Susanna Aland, daughter of Henry Aland, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was MP for the ...

. The Christmas family had been dominant in Waterford politics for generations. William in his turn was High Sheriff in 1824. He was elected at the 1832 general election as the

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) for

Waterford City "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, but was defeated at the 1835 general election. He served again briefly as MP in 1841-2. He was a firm opponent of any democratic reform, and a political enemy of

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

, who called him "a Christmas of the darkest winter". In later life, he became extremely unpopular. At Christmas time 1866, he was set upon by an angry crowd and savagely

assaulted An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

, and died from his injuries three months later. He married Octavia Whinyates, daughter of Colonel Thomas Whinyates. They had no children. William left all his possessions to Octavia for life; the estate passed on her death to his nephew, William Osborne Christmas. Octavia died in 1882.

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* 1867 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Waterford constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1841–1847 Irish Conservative Party MPs Year of birth uncertain {{Ireland-UK-MP-stub