William Rashleigh (11 January 1777 – 14 May 1855) was an English politician and landowner from

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

Rashleigh was the son of Reverend Jonathan Rashleigh of Silverton, Devon, who was the third son of Jonathan Rashleigh (MP for Fowey) and the brother of Philip Rashleigh of

Menabilly Menabilly ( kw, Men Ebeli, meaning ''stone of colts'') is a historic estate on the south coast of Cornwall, England, situated within the parish of Tywardreath on the Gribben peninsula about west of Fowey. It has been the seat of the Rashle ...

. He was Mayor of

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; kw, Lostwydhyel) is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increas ...

in 1802 and 1808, and in 1811 inherited the vast Menabilly estate from his uncle Philip. This gave him control of the Rashleigh family's pocket

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

of Fowey, and at the 1812 general election he returned himself 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 o ...

(MP) for Fowey. He sold the control of the borough in 1817, and at the 1818 general election retired from 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 ...

. He was

Sheriff of Cornwall Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list: The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriffs of all other English counties, othe ...

for 1820–21. He was interested in natural history, was a

Fellow of the Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

and was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in 1814. He died in 1855 at Kilmarth, near Menabilly. He had married twice: firstly Rachel, the daughter of William Stackhouse of Trehane, with whom he had two daughters; and secondly Caroline, the daughter of Henry Hinxman of Ivychurch, Wiltshire with whom he had two sons and four daughters. Menabilly descended to his son William Rashleigh.

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* 1777 births 1855 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Fowey UK MPs 1812–1818 High Sheriffs of Cornwall British naturalists Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Linnean Society of London {{England-UK-MP-stub