William Ormsby-Gore (14 March 1779 – 4 May 1860), known as William Gore until 1815, 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 o ...

Life

Born into an Anglo-Irish family as William Gore, the eldest son of William Gore, M.P., of Woodford,

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...

, he was the great-great-grandson of William Gore, third and youngest son of

Sir Arthur Gore, 1st Baronet Sir Arthur Gore, 1st Baronet (c. 1640 – 20 December 1697) was an Irish soldier and politician. Gore was the second son of Sir Paul Gore, 1st Baronet and his wife Isabella Wycliffe, daughter of Francis Wycliffe. In 1656, he was High Sheriff ...

, of Newtown, second son of

Sir Paul Gore, 1st Baronet Sir Paul Gore, 1st Baronet (1567 – September 1629) was an Anglo-Irish politician, soldier and baronet. Born in London, he was the eldest son of Gerard Gore and his wife Helen Davenant, daughter of Ralph Davenant. Gore had come to Ireland a ...

, of Magharabag, whose eldest son Paul was the grandfather of

Arthur Gore, 1st Earl of Arran Arthur Gore, 1st Earl of Arran PC (Ire) (1703 – 17 April 1773), known as Sir Arthur Gore, 3rd Baronet from 1741 to 1757 and as Viscount Sudley from 1758 to 1762, was an Irish politician. Arran was the son of Sir Arthur Gore, 2nd Baronet, and ...

. 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, ...

(1796), the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

(1796) and Merton College, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1797. In 1815 he married Mary Jane Ormsby, daughter and heiress of Owen Ormsby, and assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Ormsby the same year. He joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and served as a lieutenant in the 1st Dragoon Guards in 1800, was promoted to captain in 1802, to major in 1802 and to brevet major in 1813. He went onto half-pay with the 86th Foot in 1815 and as a captain in the 88th Foot. He left the Army in 1829. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Shropshire This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of Shropshire The 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 responsibil ...

for 1817–18 and

High Sheriff of Caernarvonshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Caernarvonshire (or Carnarvonshire). The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in a county but over the centuries most of the responsibi ...

for 1820–21. Ormsby-Gore was elected to 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. T ...

for

in 1806, a seat he held until 1807, and then represented Caernarvon from 1830 to 1831 and

North Shropshire North Shropshire was a local government district in Shropshire, England from 1974 to 2009. The district council was based at Edinburgh House in Wem. Other settlements included the towns of Ellesmere, Market Drayton, Wem and Whitchurch, as w ...

from 1835 to 1857. He died at Porkington and was buried at Selattyn. He had 3 sons (one of whom predeceased him) and 2 daughters. His eldest son John Ormsby Gore was M.P. for Caernarvonshire and created

Baron Harlech Baron Harlech, of Harlech in the County of Merioneth, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1876 for the Conservative politician John Ormsby-Gore, with remainder to his younger brother William. He had previously re ...

in 1876. His second son

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 ...

became 2nd Baron Harlech after the death of his brother.

References

* *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ormsby-Gore, William 1779 births 1860 deaths People educated at Eton College Members of the Middle Temple Alumni of Merton College, Oxford 1st King's Dragoon Guards officers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Leitrim constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Welsh constituencies Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857

High Sheriffs of Shropshire High Sheriffs of Caernarvonshire Younger sons of baronets 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot officers 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) officers Members of Parliament for Caernarfon Tory MPs (pre-1834) Military personnel from County Leitrim Politicians from County Leitrim