William Henry Scourfield (1776 – 31 January 1843) was a Welsh landowner and

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

politician.

Biography

Scourfield was the son of Henry Scourfield and his wife Elizabeth (daughter of Rev John Ewer of Bangor), of the Scourfield family of

New Moat New Moat ( cy, Y Mot) is a village, parish and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It extends from the southern edges of Mynydd Preseli to the Pembrokeshire-Carmarthenshire border. Demographics New Moat community includes the villages of New Moat, ...

and Robeston Hall. Scourfield was educated at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, and on 27 October 1804 he married Maria Goate, daughter of Lt. Colonel Edward Goate of Brent Eleigh Hall,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. Despite his father having moved the family from New Moat in Pembrokeshire to Robeston Hall near

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( cy, Aberdaugleddau, meaning "mouth of the two Rivers Cleddau") is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has ...

, purchased from the pioneer industrialist Thomas Kymer, Scourfield returned to New Moat on his father's death in 1805 and proceed to rebuild the old estate, The Mote.

Political career

Scourfield was a

by political leaning and had supported Lords

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

and

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

in their elections as well as Lord Cowder's

son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

in his 1812 campaign to win the county seat of

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

. In 1816 Milford and Kensington fell out after Cowder allied himself to their joint enemy John Owen. Kensington, who had sat as

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

Haverfordwest Haverfordwest (, ; cy, Hwlffordd ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the county, ...

with Milford's support, was obliged to lose the seat at the coming election. Milford had earmarked Scourfield for the seat of Haverfordwest since 1805, and with Kensingtons's support, Scourfield became

for Haverfordwest in 1818. That same year he was also appointed

High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Pembrokeshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilitie ...

. He was re-elected unopposed in 1820 but in 1826 the seat was taken by Milford's heir Richard Phillips, who had come of age. Although

William Holmes 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 ...

wrote to

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

in 1823, stating that Scourfield held the seat in opposition to Milford's interest, it was truer that Scourfield was an independent Parliamentarian, with a greater desire to serve his constituents than be involved in political machinations. In 1835 Scourfield was re-elected to Haverfordwest, the same year that his wife Maria died. He left Parliament for good in 1837.

Later life and death

On 28 December 1837 Scourfield married for a second time, to Louisa Sarah, daughter of Richard Bowen of

Manorowen Manorowen is a small settlement and parish on the A487 road, A487 southwest of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, West Wales, in the Community (Wales), Community of Scleddau; the parish includes the village of Scleddauthe eastern part of which is in the ...

. Scourfield died without an heir in 1843 and left the estate to his sister, Elizabeth Anne Scourfield. She was married to Colonel Owen Phillips of Williamston in 1804, and they left The Mote to their son, John Henry Phillips (1808–1876) who took the surname Scourfield in 1862.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scourfield, William Henry 1776 births 1843 deaths Alumni of New College, Oxford High Sheriffs of Pembrokeshire Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Welsh constituencies UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1835–1837 Tory MPs (pre-1834)