William Haldimand (9 September 1784 – 20 September 1862) was an English

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

, director of the Bank of England, 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 ...

. He was the brother of

Jane Marcet Jane Marcet (née Haldimand) (1 January 1769 – 28 June 1858) was an English salonnière of Swiss origin, and an innovative writer of popular, explanatory science books. She also broke ground with ''Conversations on Political Economy'' (1816 ...

, a popular writer on science and economics. William Haldimand

Life

He was the son of Anthony Francis Haldimand (1741–1817), a London merchant, nephew and heir of

Sir Frederick Haldimand Sir Frederick Haldimand, Order of the Bath, KB (11 August 1718 – 5 June 1791) was a military officer best known for his service in the British Army in North America during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. From 1778 ...

. He was one of twelve children, most of whom died young, and was born in London 9 September 1784. At sixteen he entered his father's counting-house, showed talent for business, and at twenty-five became a director of the Bank of England. Haldimand was an advocate of the resumption of specie payments, and gave evidence in the parliamentary inquiry which led to the act of 1819. In 1820 he was elected Member of Parliament for

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

, and was re-elected in 1826, but when the return was disputed he gave up the seat. In 1828 Haldimand settled permanently at his summer villa, Denantou, near

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

. He supported Greek independence, sending the insurgents of the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

funds by his nephew, and guaranteeing Admiral Thomas Cochrane £20,000 to equip a fleet. A visit to

Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; frp, Èx-los-Bens; la, Aquae Gratianae), locally simply Aix, is a commune in the southeastern French department of Savoie.

for his health resulted in his erecting there in 1829 a hospital for poor patients. The municipality gave it his name; but after the annexation of

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

to France from the

Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

, it was styled the Hortense Hospital,

Queen Hortense Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte (; , ; 10 April 1783 – 5 October 1837) was Queen consort of Kingdom of Holland, Holland. She was the stepdaughter of Emperor Napoléon I as the daughter of his first wife, Empress Joséphine, Joséphine de Be ...

having endowed it. Purchases of French ''rentes'', made to strengthen the new Orleans dynasty, involved Haldimand in losses. He gave £24,000 for a blind asylum at Lausanne, with more after his death, and £3,000 towards the erection of an Anglican church at

Ouchy Ouchy is a port and a popular lakeside resort south of the centre of Lausanne in Switzerland, at the edge of Lake Geneva (french: lac Léman). Facilities Very popular with tourists for the views of nearby France (Évian-les-Bains, Thonon), ...

. Inclined to radicalism in politics, and to scepticism in religion, he nevertheless exerted himself in favour of the free church in

Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...

, threatened with state persecution. He died unmarried at Denantou on 20 September 1862 aged 78.

References

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Notes

;Attribution 1784 births 1862 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Ipswich UK MPs 1820–1826 English people of Swiss descent Whig (British political party) MPs {{England-UK-MP-stub