William Henry Lambton (1764–1797) was a British

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) who represented the City of Durham in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

He was the son of Major-General

John Lambton General John Lambton (26 July 1710 – 22 March 1794) of Harraton Hall, later of Lambton Castle, County Durham, was a senior officer in the British Army and a Member of Parliament. Life Lambton was the fourth son of Ralph Lambton (c. 1651–1 ...

, who preceded him as the MP for Durham, and the brother of Ralph John Lambton, who was also an MP for Durham. Lambton was educated at Wandsworth (1773–78),

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

(1778-82) and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

in 1782. Lambton was a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, and in 1788 was installed as the first

Provincial Grand Master Provincial Grand Master (abbreviated PGM or PrGM), sometimes called District Grand Master or Metropolitan Grand Master, is a fraternal office held by the head of a Provincial Grand Lodge, who is directly appointed by the organisation's Grand Master ...

of Durham. The Durham cathedral organist,

Thomas Ebdon Thomas Ebdon (1738–1811) was a British composer and organist born in Durham. He was a chorister at Durham Cathedral and was a pupil of James Heseltine, the organist there. He succeeded Heseltine in the office, aged 35, after some wrangling be ...

, composed a march for the occasion. He inherited the estates of his father in 1794 and engaged the Italian architect

Joseph Bonomi the Elder Joseph Bonomi the Elder (19 January 17399 March 1808) was an Italian architect and draughtsman who spent most of his career in England where he became a successful designer of country houses. Biography He was born Giuseppe Bonomi in Rome on 19 ...

(1739-1808) to build a new house in

neo-classical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

on the site of Harraton Hall, north of the

River Wear The River Wear (, ) in North East England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers, wends in a steep valley through th ...

. The new house would be called Lambton Hall and the original Lambton Hall on the south side of the river demolished. However, illness would prevent him from seeing the scheme finished. He died of

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

on 30 November 1797, and was buried in the Old English cemetery in Livorno, Italy. In 1791, Lambton had married Anne Barbara Frances Villiers, the daughter of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey. Their eldest son,

inherited at the aged of 5 and was later made

Earl of Durham Earl of Durham is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1833 for the Whig politician and colonial official John Lambton, 1st Baron Durham. Known as "Radical Jack", he played a leading role in the passing of the Gre ...

.William Jerdan, ''National Portrait Gallery of Illustrious and Eminent Personages'', 1833
/ref> He would finalise the building of Lambton Hall, now expanded in scope and renamed

Lambton Castle Lambton Castle stands above Chester-le-Street, County Durham and is a stately home, the ancestral seat of the Lambton family, the Earls of Durham. It is listed in the mid-category of listed building, Grade II*. History Largely constructed a ...

References

1764 births 1797 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for City of Durham British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800

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 ...

18th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Italy Infectious disease deaths in Tuscany {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub