William Leveson Gower (c. 1696–1756) was a British Tory politician who sat 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. ...

for 36 years from 1720 to 1756. Leveson Gower was the second son of

John Leveson Gower, 1st Baron Gower John Leveson-Gower, 1st Baron Gower Privy council, PC (7 January 1675 – 31 August 1709) was a member of the Leveson-Gower family. He was the son of Sir William Leveson-Gower, 4th Baronet and his wife Jane Granville.Sir Thomas Grosvenor, 3rd Baronet Sir Thomas Grosvenor, 3rd Baronet (20 November 1656 – 2 July 1700) was an English Member of Parliament, and an ancestor of the modern day Dukes of Westminster. He was the first member of the family to build a substantial house on the presen ...

, MP of Eaton Hall, Cheshire on 26 May 1730. Leveson Gower was returned unopposed as a Tory

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 ...

for

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

at a by-election on 29 December 1720, and was returned again at the next four general elections of

1722 Events January–March * January 27 – Daniel Defoe's novel ''Moll Flanders'' is published anonymously in London. * February 10 – The Battle of Cape Lopez begins off of the coast of West Africa (and present-day Gabon), as ...

1727 Events January–March * January 1 – (December 21, 1726 O.S.) Spain's ambassador to Great Britain demands that the British return Gibraltar after accusing Britain of violating the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Britain ...

1734 Events January– March * January 8 – Salzburgers, Lutherans who were expelled by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salzburg, Austria, in October 1731, set sail for the British Colony of Province of Georgia, Georgia in North America ...

and

1741 Events January–March * January 13 – Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. * February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, popularizes the term "the balance of power" in a spe ...

. He consistently voted against the Government until in 1744, he went over to the Administration with his brother Lord Gower. He was re-elected in

1747 Events January–March * January 31 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital. * February 11 – King George's War: A combined French and Indian force, commanded by Captain Nicolas Antoine II Coul ...

after a bitterly contested election. In 1751 he went into opposition with the Duke of Bedford, and severed his political connection with his brother. In December 1751, the Princess Emily wanted him to be made treasurer to the Prince of Wales and auditor to herself, but Pelham insisted that he ask for Lord Gower's interest, which he refused to do. He voted in January 1752 with the Administration on the Saxon subsidy treaty, which the Duke of Bedford had opposed in the House of Lords, but subsequently reverted to opposition. He was returned at the

1754 Events January–March * January 28 – Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word ''serendipity''. * February 22 – Expecting an attack by Portuguese-speaking militias in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Pla ...

and was classed as a member of the Bedford group, then in opposition. In May 1756 Leveson Gower had ‘a stroke of palsy in the House of Commons’. He died on 13 December 1756, leaving one daughter. He was also the brother of

Thomas Leveson-Gower Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

and Baptiste Leveson-Gower who were also MPs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leveson Gower, William 1690s births 1756 deaths Younger sons of barons Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761