William Vane, 1st Viscount Vane (1682 – 20 May 1734), of Fairlawn, Kent, was a British Whig 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. ...

between 1708 and 1734.

Early life

Vane was baptized on 17 February 1682, the second surviving son of

Christopher Vane, 1st Baron Barnard Christopher Vane, 1st Baron Barnard (21 May 1653 – 28 October 1723) was an English peer. He served in Parliament for Durham after his brother, Thomas, died 4 days after being elected the MP for Durham. Then, again from January 1689 - November ...

and Lady Elizabeth Holles. His father inherited

Raby Castle Raby Castle () is a medieval castle located near Staindrop in County Durham, England, among of deer park. It was built by John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby, between approximately 1367 and 1390. Cecily Neville, the mother of the Kings Ed ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

and

Fairlawne Fairlawne is a Grade I listed house in Shipbourne, Kent, England, about 30 miles southeast of central London. The Fairlawne Estate is extensive and stretches to Plaxtol. Architecture Fairlawne was rebuilt for Sir Henry Vane the Elder in 1630–5 ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in 1662.Mounsey p. 23 His paternal grandfather was

Henry Vane the Younger Sir Henry Vane (baptised 26 March 161314 June 1662), often referred to as Harry Vane and Henry Vane the Younger to distinguish him from his father, Henry Vane the Elder, was an English politician, statesman, and colonial governor. He was brie ...

who was beheaded at Tower Hill in 1662. His mother was a daughter of

Gilbert Holles, 3rd Earl of Clare Gilbert Holles, 3rd Earl of Clare (24 April 1633 – 16 January 1689) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660. He was styled Lord Haughton from 1637 until he succeeded to the title Earl of Clare in 1666. Life Holles was t ...

and the sister of

John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle John Holles, Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, KG, PC (9 January 1662 – 15 July 1711) was an English peer. Early life Holles was born in Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire, the son of the 3rd Earl of Clare and his wife Grace Pierrepont. Grace was a d ...

. He inherited a substantial fortune from his mother's family.thepeerage.com William Vane, 1st Viscount Vane
/ref>

Career

At the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs finally gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November ...

, Vane was returned unopposed 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 of ...

for

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

on his father's interest. He was active as a teller for various electoral disputes and voted for the naturalization of the Palatines, and for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell. At the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

, his father decided to drop him, so he did not stand. In 1720 Vane was raised to the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

as Baron Vane, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, and Viscount Vane. These titles did not disqualify him from sitting in the House of Commons. He succeeded his father in 1723. At the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

Vane was successfully returned in a contest for

Steyning Steyning ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham District, Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles (6.4 km) north of the ...

. At the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

he was defeated at Steyning but returned in a contest as MP for

. However, he died suddenly only five days later.

Personal life

In 1703, he married Lucy Jolliffe, daughter of Sir William Jolliffe, of

Caverswall Castle Caverswall Castle is a privately owned early-17th-century English mansion built in a castellar style upon the foundations and within the walls of a 13th-century castle, in Caverswall, Staffordshire. It is a Grade I listed building. The castle i ...

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 ...

. The settlement dated 15 November 1703 included Fairlawn, Kent, and lands in Durham, providing Vane with £600 p.a. for himself and his wife. After the marriage, Vane's father refused to include Fairlawn in the settlement, and took ‘great displeasure’ and stopped the allowance when his son took legal advice. The case came before the House of Lords and the settlement was confirmed. Vane kept possession of Fairlawn. Together, they were the parents of: * Christopher Vane, who predeceased Lord Vane. * John Vane, who predeceased Lord Vane. *

William Vane, 2nd Viscount Vane William Holles Vane, 2nd Viscount Vane (14 February 1714 – 5 April 1789), was a British Whig politician. He is best remembered for his devotion to his openly unfaithful wife Frances, who despised him. Early life William Holles Vane was t ...

(1714–1789), who married Frances, Lady William Hamilton who was previously married to the 4th Duke of Hamilton's second son,

Lord William Hamilton Lord William Hamilton (c. 1706 – 11 July 1734) was a member of Parliament for Lanarkshire. Early life Lord William was the second oldest child of James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton, and his second wife Elizabeth (née Gerard). When the ...

. Vane died of apoplexy on 20 May 1734 at Fairlawn,

Shipbourne Shipbourne ( ) is a village and civil parish situated between the towns of Sevenoaks and Tonbridge, in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in the English county of Kent. In 2020 it was named as the most expensive village in Kent. It is located i ...

, where he was buried on 5 June. He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his only surviving 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 ...

. Lady Vane died in March 1742.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vane, William Vane, 1st Viscount 1682 births 1734 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George I Younger sons of barons