William Wodehouse (c. 1706 - 13 May 1737), of

Kimberley, Norfolk Kimberley is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England, situated about north-west of Wymondham, around the crossroads of the B1108 road, B1108 and B1135 road, B1135. The parish has an area of a ...

, was a British Tory 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. ...

from 1734 to 1737. Wodehouse was the eldest son of

Sir John Wodehouse, 4th Baronet Sir John Wodehouse, 4th Baronet (23 March 1669 – 6 August 1754), was a British Tory Member of Parliament. A member of an old Norfolk family, Wodehouse succeeded his grandfather Sir Philip Wodehouse, 3rd Baronet, in the baronetcy on 6 May 1681. ...

and his wife Mary Fermor, daughter of Sir William Fermor, 2nd Baronet. He was educated at Wymondham School, under Messrs Sayer and Brett and was admitted at

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

on 12 June 1723. He married Frances Bathurst, daughter of

Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst, (16 November 168416 September 1775), of Bathurst in the County of Sussex, known as The Lord Bathurst from 1712 to 1772, was a British Tory politician. Bathurst sat in the English and British House of Commons f ...

on 5 August 1731. 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 ...

, Wodehouse was elected

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

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

in a close contest. He was also returned as MP for

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

on the interest of his father-in-law, but chose to sit for Norfolk. Wodehouse died, in London on 13 May 1737 from

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

and was buried at St James Westminster. He had no children, and the baronetcy was eventually inherited by his younger brother Armine, who succeeded him as MP for Norfolk.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wodehouse, William 1737 deaths Members of Parliament for Norfolk Deaths from smallpox Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge British MPs 1727–1734

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 ...

Heirs apparent who never acceded 1706 births People from Kimberley, Norfolk