William Wickham (1831 – 16 May 1897) was a Member of Parliament for

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

, a

High Sheriff of Hampshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Hampshire. This title was often given as High Sheriff of the County of Southampton until 1959. List of High Sheriffs *1070–1096: Hugh de Port "Domesday Book Online" *1105: Henry de Port (son of Hugh) *1129: W ...

, Chairman of the

Petty sessional division A petty sessional division was, in England and Wales, the area that a magistrates' court had jurisdiction over (before the abolition of quarter sessions, specifically the petty sessions). Petty sessional divisions were gradually consolidated in ...

, and served on the

Board of guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the poor ...

, being Guardian of

West Worldham West Worldham is a small village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is southeast of Alton. Hartley Mauditt and East Worldham are nearby, which along with West Worldham form the Parish of Worldham. West Worldham contains so ...

Early years

He was bom in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1831, the eldest son of

Henry Lewis Wickham Henry Lewis Wickham (19 May 1789 – 27 October 1864) was Receiver General of Gibraltar, Chairman of the Boards of stamps and taxes (1838–1848), and principal private secretary to Lord Althorp when Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was called to t ...

(1789–1864), of Binsted Wyck,

Receiver General A receiver general (or receiver-general) is an officer responsible for accepting payments on behalf of a government, and for making payments to a government on behalf of other parties. See also * Treasurer * Receiver General for Canada * Recei ...

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. His mother was Lucy, youngest daughter of William Markham, of Becca Hall,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. He was sixth in descent from Bishop William Wickham,

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...

and

Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...

. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and

New Inn Hall New Inn Hall was one of the earliest medieval halls of the University of Oxford. It was located in New Inn Hall Street, Oxford. History Trilleck's Inn The original building on the site was Trilleck's Inn, a medieval hall or hostel for stu ...

. He received a B.A. degree in 1854, and an M.A. degree in 1857 from

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

Career

He was called to the Bar at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1857, and in 1888–89 was High Sheriff of Hampshire. In 1892, he entered Parliament in the Conservative interest as the representative for Petersfield, succeeding Viscount Wolmer; in 1895 he was returned unopposed. He sat on the Alton Bench, and for nearly 20 years acted as Chairman of the Petty sessional division. He was a member of the Board of Guardians, first as an ''ex officio'' member, and later as Guardian for West Worldham. He served as the

County Councillor A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

for the Selborne division. Wickham was a director of the Sun Fire and Life Assurance Company. He was the editor of the ''Correspondence'' (1870) of the Rt. Hon. William Wickham, his grandfather and a

spymaster A spymaster is the person that leads a spy ring, or a secret service (such as an intelligence agency). Historical spymasters See also *List of American spies *List of British spies * List of German spies *List of fictional spymasters This is ...

Personal life

Wickham owned a

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

at Binsted Wyck, near

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario *Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...

. He 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 ...

. He married Sophia Emma in 1860; they had two daughters. He died in 1897 and was buried in the churchyard at

Binsted Binsted is a village and large civil parish in East Hampshire, England. It is about east of Alton, its nearest town. The parish is one of the largest in northern Hampshire and covers almost . It contains two villages, Bucks Horn Oak and Holt P ...

with every demonstration of the affectionate regard and respect in which he was held by all who knew him.

References

* ''This article includes text incorporated from Linnean Society of London's "Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London" (1897), a publication now in the public domain.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Wickham, William 1831 births 1897 deaths High Sheriffs of Hampshire UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in Hampshire