William Astell (13 October 1774 – 7 March 1847), was a Member of Parliament and eminent director of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

. Astell was the second son of

Godfrey Thornton Godfrey Thornton was Governor of the Bank of England from 1793 to 1795. He had been Deputy Governor from 1791 to 1793. He replaced Samuel Bosanquet as Governor and was succeeded by Daniel Giles.Moggerhanger House Moggerhanger House is a Grade I-listed country house in Moggerhanger, Bedfordshire, England, designed by the eminent architect John Soane. The house is owned by a Christian charity, Harvest Vision, and the Moggerhanger House Preservation Trust, ...

, Bedfordshire, a director of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

. He assumed the name of Astell instead of Thornton in 1807 on succeeding to the Everton estate in Bedfordshire of his great-uncle, Richard Astell. He was elected a member of the court of directors of the East India Company in 1800, and in the same year took his seat 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. ...

as conservative member for

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

, which borough he represented during six successive parliaments. He subsequently sat for the county of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

until the day of his death. Being a director of the East India Company for the unprecedented period of forty-seven years, he filled the offices of chairman and deputy-chairman several times, and was actively engaged in the discussion and settlement of most of the many important questions bearing upon Indian administration which arose during that lengthened period. He was chairman of the court at the commencement of the negotiations between that body and the government which preceded the enactment of the East India Company's

Charter Act of 1833 The Government of India Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will 4 c 85), or the Charter Act 1833, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, later retitled as the Saint Helena Act 1833. It extended the royal charter granted to the East India Company for an ...

. Although at first opposed to the abolition of the monopoly which the company enjoyed in respect of its trade with China, Astell eventually acquiesced in the settlement of the question made by

Earl Grey Earl Grey is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for General Charles Grey, 1st Baron Grey. In 1801, he was given the title Baron Grey of Howick in the County of Northumberland, and in 1806 he was created Viscou ...

's government. As chairman again in 1844 he took a leading part in the recall of

Lord Ellenborough Baron Ellenborough, of Ellenborough in the County of Cumberland, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 19 April 1802 for the lawyer, judge and politician Sir Edward Law, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from ...

, whose policy as governor-general he considered to be highly detrimental to the good government of that country. He was averse to annexation, unless clearly required for the safety of the British possessions, and was a staunch advocate of the policy of respecting the religious feelings of the natives of India. Astell was a deputy-lieutenant of the county of Bedford, lieutenant-colonel of the

militia, and colonel of the Royal East India Volunteers. He was also chairman of the

Russia Company The Muscovy Company (also called the Russia Company or the Muscovy Trading Company russian: Московская компания, Moskovskaya kompaniya) was an English trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major chartered joint s ...

and of the Great Northern Railway, besides filling other important offices in the

city of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. He was the first member drawn from the East India Company to become a Trustee of

Morden College Morden College is a long-standing charity which has been providing residential care in Blackheath, south-east London, England for over 300 years. It was founded by philanthropist Sir John Morden in 1695 as a home for 'poor Merchants... and su ...

. He married Sarah, the daughter of John Harvey of Ickwellbury, Bedfordshire and Finningley Park, Yorkshire, with whom he had 4 sons and 4 daughters. He was succeeded in turn by his eldest son Richard William Astell (1804–1864), a lieutenant-colonel in the Grenadiers, and his second son, John Harvey Astell, MP (1806–1887).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Astell, William 1774 births 1847 deaths People from Central Bedfordshire District UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1841–1847 Deputy Lieutenants of Bedfordshire Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Morden College Directors of the British East India Company