William Richard Chetwynd, 3rd Viscount Chetwynd (1684 – 3 April 1770) was a British 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 1715 to 1770.

Early life

Chetwynd was the youngest son of

John Chetwynd John Chetwynd (1643 – 9 December 1702), of Rudge, near Sandon, Staffordshire was an English Member of Parliament. He was the eldest son of John Chetwynd of Rudge. He was Member of Parliament for Stafford from 1689 to 1695, and again in 1701 ...

(1643–1702) and thus younger brother of

Walter Chetwynd, 1st Viscount Chetwynd Walter Chetwynd, 1st Viscount Chetwynd (3 June 1678 – 21 February 1736), of Rudge and Ingestre, Staffordshire was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1702 and 1734. Chetwynd was the eldest son of John Chetwynd o ...

and

John Chetwynd, 2nd Viscount Chetwynd John Chetwynd, 2nd Viscount Chetwynd (c.1680 – 21 June 1767) was a British diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1715 and 1747. Chetwynd was the second son of John Chetwynd of Ingestre and his wife Lucy Roane, daughter ...

. 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 ...

(c.1698–1702) and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. In 1706, he became secretary to his elder brother John on his appointment as British envoy to Savoy at Turin, and in 1708 became British Resident at Genoa. During the financial crisis precipitated by the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, the Chetwynd brothers drew on their commercial credit to provide

General James Stanhope James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope (c. 16735 February 1721) was a British soldier, diplomat and statesman who effectively served as Chief Minister between 1717 and 1721. He is also the last Chancellor of the Exchequer to sit in the House of Lor ...

with the funds he needed to pay the British troops in Spain. Buchan, James (2018), ''

John Law John Law may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John Law (artist) (born 1958), American artist * John Law (comics), comic-book character created by Will Eisner * John Law (film director), Hong Kong film director * John Law (musician) (born 1961) ...

: A Scottish Adventurer in the Eighteenth Century'', Maclehose Press, London, pp. 83 - 85, William was recalled to England in 1712. He married Honora Baker, the daughter of William Baker, consul at Algiers in 1715.

Political career

Chetwynd was returned unopposed with his brother Walter 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

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

at the 1715 general election and was appointed to office as a junior

Lord of the Admiralty This is a list of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (incomplete before the Restoration, 1660). The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of The Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was n ...

in 1717. Both brothers were defeated in a contest at Stafford in 1722 but he also stood for Parliament on the Navy interest at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

and was returned there in 1722. Having voted with his friend

Viscount Bolingbroke Viscount Bolingbroke is a current title in the Peerage of Great Britain created in 1712 for Henry St John. He was simultaneously made Baron St John, of Lydiard Tregoze in the County of Wilts. Since 1751, the titles are merged with the titles of ...

he lost his post at the Admiralty in 1727 and was not put forward for Plymouth again at the 1727 general election. He was elected MP for

in 1734 in place of his brother Walter and was returned unopposed in

1741 Events January–March * January 13 – Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. * February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, popularizes the term "the balance of power" in a spe ...

. In 1743 he was slightly injured in a duel at Parliament with Horatio Walpole. He was appointed master of the mint in 1744 and held the post until 1769. In 1745 he was appointed under-secretary of state and held the post until 1748. He was returned for Stafford again at the 1747 general election. He was returned for Stafford at the general elections of 1754, 1761 and after succeeding to his brother's Irish peerage under a

special remainder In property law of the United Kingdom and the United States and other common law countries, a remainder is a future interest given to a person (who is referred to as the transferee or remainderman) that is capable of becoming possessory upon the n ...

in 1767 at the 1768 general election.

Death and legacy

Chetwynd died on 3 April 1770 aged 86. He had two sons and four daughters, but disinherited his surviving son, William, who became the 4th Viscount. Chetwynd built and lived in Chetwynd House in Stafford, which later was used as Stafford Post Office.

References

*H. M. Stephens, 'Chetwynd, William Richard, third Viscount Chetwynd (1685?–1770)’, rev. Philip Carter, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', (Oxford University Press, 2004

accessed 15 Nov 2008. *''Burkes' Peerage'' (1939 edition). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chetwynd, William Richard, 3rd Viscount 1684 births 1770 deaths People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British diplomats Lords of the Admiralty Masters of the Mint Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Stafford British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774