William Mayne, 1st Baron Newhaven PC (1722 – 28 May 1794), known as Sir William Mayne, Bt, between 1763 and 1776, was a British merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1790.

Early life

Mayne was the eldest son of the second marriage of William Mayne, of Powis Logie, Clackmannanshire.Burke, John. Burke, John Bernard. ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England'', p. 348.
/ref> He was employed in the family business of Mayne and Barn at

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

until 1757, when he returned to England. From 1757 to 1765, he was a director of the Royal Exchange Insurance Company and was recorded as a merchant in trade directories until 1780. He married the Honourable Frances Allen, daughter of Joshua Allen, 2nd Viscount Allen, and heiress of her brother John Allen, 3rd Viscount Allen, on 15 July 1758. Through his marriage, he gained considerable estates in Ireland.

Political career

Mayne was eager to enter Parliament and stood at the

1761 British general election The 1761 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. This was the first P ...

at Canterbury where he was defeated. He was, however, returned in 1761 to the Irish House of Commons for Carysfort, a seat he held until 1776. He was created a Baronet, of Marston Mortaine in the County of Bedford, in the Baronetage of Great Britain in 1763 and sworn of the

Irish Privy Council His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

in 1766. At the

1768 British general election The 1768 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 13th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election took plac ...

he contested Malmesbury where he stood no chance against vested interests, after briefly considering Colchester. By

1774 Events January–March * January 21 – Mustafa III, List of Ottoman Sultans, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I. * January 27 ** An angry crowd in Boston, Massachusetts seizes, tars, and f ...

Mayne had acquired a seat at Gatton where he was returned and was also elected Member of Parliament for Canterbury, where he chose to sit. In 1776 he was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Newhaven, of Carrick Mayne in the County of Dublin. He was defeated at Canterbury in the 1780 general election and returned himself and his brother

Robert Mayne Robert Mayne (1724–1782) was a British merchant, banker and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1782. Mayne was the fifth son of William Mayne of Powis Logie, Clackmannanshire and his second wife Helen Galbraith, daughter o ...

for Gatton instead. His brother died in 1782 and Mayne was returned Gatton for the last time in

1784 Events January–March * January 6 – Treaty of Constantinople: The Ottoman Empire agrees to Russia's annexation of the Crimea. * January 14 – The Congress of the United States ratifies the Treaty of Paris with Great Brit ...

. In 1786 he sold his property at Gatton and did not stand in

1790 Events January–March * January 8 – United States President George Washington gives the first State of the Union address, in New York City. * January 11 – The 11 minor states of the Austrian Netherlands, which took p ...

Later life and legacy

Lord Newhaven died in May 1794. He and his wife, Frances, had one son who died in infancy and so the baronetcy and barony became extinct. What is now the city of

Berlin, New Hampshire Berlin ( ) is a city along the Androscoggin River in Coös County in northern New Hampshire, United States. It is the northernmost city in New Hampshire. The population was 9,425 at the 2020 census, down from 10,051 at the 2010 census. It ...

, was originally granted as "Maynesborough" in honor of Mayne.Article in ''Statistics and Gazetteer of New-Hampshire (1875)
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newhaven, William Mayne, 1st Baron 1722 births 1794 deaths Barons in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George III Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Irish MPs 1761–1768 Irish MPs 1769–1776 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Wicklow constituencies