William Cornwallis Cornwallis-West VD JP (20 March 1835 – 4 July 1917), was a British landowner, politician for seven years from 1885 and raised the

6th (Ruthin) Denbighshire Rifle Volunteer Corps The 1st Denbighshire Rifle Volunteers, later 4th (Denbighshire) Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, was a Welsh unit of the British Army's auxiliary forces. First raised in 1860, it served as a pioneer battalion with the 47th (2nd London) Division ...

followed by further ceremonial duties in the wider territorial army in Wales.

Early life

He was born William Cornwallis West. He was a son of Frederick Richard West, a Tory MP for Denbigh Boroughs and

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

who was a member of the Canterbury Association and his wife who was born Theresa Whitby. His father first married Lady Georgiana Stanhope (a daughter of Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl of Chesterfield). His paternal grandfather was Frederick West (a son of John West, 2nd Earl De La Warr). His maternal grandparents were both Royal Navy figures: John Whitby and Mary Anne Theresa Symonds (heiress to the fortune of Admiral William Cornwallis). He was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

, in 1862.

Career

Cornwallis-West was High Sheriff of Denbighshire in 1872,

Lord-Lieutenant of Denbighshire This is an incomplete list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire in Wales. After 1733, all Lord Lieutenants were also Custos Rotulorum of Denbighshire. The office was abolished on 31 March 1974, being replaced by the Lord Lieut ...

from 1872 to 1917, and a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Hampshire and Denbighshire. In 1885 he won a fought election to Parliament for Denbighshire West as a Liberal, a seat he held until 1892 latterly as a Liberal Unionist (which took an anti- Irish Home Rule line). He lost to the Liberal Party's candidate that year as the parties began their clearer left/right split. He raised the

in 1861 and became commanding officer of the

1st Volunteer Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers The 1st Denbighshire Rifle Volunteers, later 4th (Denbighshire) Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, was a Welsh unit of the British Army's auxiliary forces. First raised in 1860, it served as a pioneer battalion with the 47th (2nd London) Division o ...

in 1885. In 1890 he became Honorary Colonel of the battalion and later of its successor, the

4th (Denbighshire) Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers The 1st Denbighshire Rifle Volunteers, later 4th (Denbighshire) Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, was a Welsh unit of the British Army's auxiliary forces. First raised in 1860, it served as a pioneer battalion with the 47th (2nd London) Division ...

in the Territorial Force. In 1895 he assumed by

deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract because it binds only one party (law), party. Et ...

the surname of Cornwallis-West. In his most active years he lived simultaneously in London, at Ruthin Castle, Denbighshire and at Newlands Manor,

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

, Hampshire.Historical faces from Milford on Sea
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Personal life

Cornwallis-West married Mary ("Patsy"), daughter of Frederick Fitzpatrick, in 1872. Born in 1856, "Patsy" was 17 years old. She was known as a great beauty and leading socialite. Their children all endured divorce: * Daisy Cornwallis-West (1873–1943), who married Prince Hans Heinrich XV von Hochberg (going by the name Henry of Pless from 1914). *

George Cornwallis-West Major George Frederick Myddleton Cornwallis-West (14 November 1874 – 1 April 1951) was a British officer of the Scots Guards. George Cornwallis-West was noted primarily for his marriages, the first to Jennie Jerome, mother of Winston Churchil ...

(1874–1951), second husband of Lady Randolph Churchill (the American heiress formerly known as Jennie Jerome), mother of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

. After their 1914 divorce, he married actress and beauty (including poster and painting subject) Mrs Patrick Campbell known as Mrs Pat – before her earlier marriage known as Beatrice R.S. Tanner. * Constance (known as Shelagh) Cornwallis-West (1875–1970), who married Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster. They divorced and she married her private secretary and agent, Captain John Fitzpatrick Lewis. Cornwallis-West died in July 1917, aged 82. His widow died in July 1920, shortly after returning from Monaco, at her family's Arnewood House which has a half-wooded holding north of her other mansion: Newlands.

Newlands Manor

George, who had already been declared bankrupt, after the sale of certain lots, decided to dispose of the bulk – the rest – of the Hampshire estate so astutely acquired by his great-grandmother. In 1920 the estate of 2,000 acres was put up for auction in 91 lots. The mansion and its grounds and four lodges were sold in one lot. Other lots included arable, pasture and woodland, building sites in Milford, 30 cottages and farms including Batchley, Kings, Harts, Lea Green and Downton Manor. The house, which had been badly neglected, and 500 acres was bought by Sir John Power, MP for Wimbledon, who made improvements but put it up for sale in 1948. The house and 38 acres were then acquired by a developer who turned it into six flats.

Notes

References

* *
Mary Cornwallis-West at the National Portrait Gallery

External links

*
Article on Mrs Cornwallis-West
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornwallis-West, William 1835 births 1917 deaths Lord-Lieutenants of Denbighshire People educated at Eton College Members of Lincoln's Inn Liberal Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 Liberal Unionist Party MPs for Welsh constituencies

William Cornwallis-West William Cornwallis Cornwallis-West VD JP (20 March 1835 – 4 July 1917), was a British landowner, politician for seven years from 1885 and raised the 6th (Ruthin) Denbighshire Rifle Volunteer Corps followed by further ceremonial duties in the ...

High Sheriffs of Denbighshire