The Hon. William Henry Yelverton (5 December 1791 – 28 April 1884) was a Whig politician who served as MP for Carmarthen Boroughs from 1832 to 1835. Yelverton inherited considerable lands and industry from his family and from his marriage to Elizabeth Lucy Morgan.

Early life and education

Yelverton was born on 5 December 1791 in

Belle Isle Castle Belle Isle Castle is an 18th century house on Belle Isle, an island previously known, in Gaelic times, as Ballymacmanus Island or ''Senadh-Mic-Maghnusa'' or, simply, ''Senad''. The Belle Isle Estate stretches over 470-acres near Lisbellaw in Coun ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, to

William Charles Yelverton Major The Rt. Hon. William Charles Yelverton, 4th Viscount Avonmore (27 September 1824 – 1 April 1883, Biarritz), was an Irish nobleman and soldier. He was the son of The 3rd Viscount Avonmore and Cecilia O'Keeffe. Major William Charles Yelve ...

, 2nd Marquess of Avonmore, and his wife Mary, daughter of John Reid. The Yelverton family held the title of

Viscount Avonmore Viscount Avonmore is a title in the Peerage of Ireland created on 29 December 1800 for the former Attorney-General for Ireland and Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer for Ireland, Barry Yelverton, 1st Baron Yelverton. He had been created Baron Yel ...

. He was educated at

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 ...

and enrolled as a student at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

. On 2 June 1825 in

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

, Gloucester, he married Elizabeth Lucy Morgan, daughter of John Morgan of Furnace. His wife died in 1863; they had one son and three daughters. In 1811, Yelverton inherited the Blaiddbwll estate by an uncle to his mother, Captain John Parr. The property was built upon through his marriage when he became the owner of the Carmarthen ironworks and colliery, as well as land in the Carmarthen and Llanelli area, which included the estate of

Whitland Abbey Whitland Abbey ( cy, Abaty Hendy-gwyn ar Daf or simply ; Latin, ''Albalanda'') was a country house and Cistercian abbey in the parish of Llangan, in what was the hundred of Narbeth, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The town which grew up nearby is now n ...

Political career

Yelverton was appointed a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire. Yelverton was elected as Member of Parliament of Carmarthen Borough in the

1832 United Kingdom general election The 1832 United Kingdom general election, the first after the Reform Act, saw the Whigs win a large majority, with the Tories winning less than 30% of the vote. Political situation The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since November 1830. H ...

, but lost his seat to David Lewis in the 1835 election. Yelverton was

High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Carmarthenshire. Carmarthenshire was originally created by the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. It became an administrative county in 1889 with a county council following the Local Government Act 1888. Under the Loca ...

in 1853. He was allegedly one of the landlords who had been responsible for the eviction of tenants after the 1868 general election, where a number of tenants were thrown out of their farms by the landowners for supporting Liberal candidates instead of following the landlord's direction to support the Conservatives. By 1878, Yelverton had gone to financial difficulties and became bankrupt.

Thelwell vs. Yelverton

In the case of Thelwell vs. Yeltervon, involving the marriage and subsequent divorce of William Henry's nephew ( Major William Charles Yelverton, 4th Viscount Avonmore) to a Catholic nurse (

Maria Theresa Longworth Theresa Yelverton (''née'' Maria Theresa Longworth; – 13 September 1881) was an English writer who became notorious because of her involvement in the ''Yelverton case'', a 19th-century Irish law case, which eventually resulted in a change to ...

), William Henry and his family sided with Longworth, thus causing a family rift. Indeed, by 1862, William and Lucy were themselves in court, bringing a case of libel against James Walker, who had written a letter criticising them for continuing to associate with Longworth after the case. According to Walker, Hendy Gwyn's family supported Longworth because, if her marriage to Avonmore had been confirmed as valid, the Viscount's children (from his second marriage) would have been illegitimate - and so their son, William Yelverton, would have been allowed to become heir to estates and viscountcy of Avonmore. Walker accused William Yelverton of behavior so selfish, so base, so unnatural that it is hard to believe its existence. Walker lost the case and had to pay £500 in compensation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yelverton, William Henry 1791 births 1884 deaths Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Carmarthenshire constituencies People educated at Eton College Tory MPs (pre-1834) UK MPs 1832–1835