Pompeo Batoni - William Weddell - Google Art Project

Ripon Cathedral William Weddells memorial

William Weddell (13 May 1736 – 30 April 1792) of

Newby Hall Newby Hall is a country house beside the River Ure in the parish of Skelton-on-Ure in North Yorkshire, England. It is 3 miles south-east of Ripon and 6 miles south of Topcliffe Castle, by which the manor of Newby was originally held. A Grade ...

in the parish of

Skelton-on-Ure Skelton-on-Ure or Skelton is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated west of Boroughbridge, near the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) motorway. There is one village pub called ...

, near

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, was a British landowner and 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 1766 and 1792. He created a notable collection of antiquities including the Barberini Venus.

Origins

He was born on 13 May 1736 as "William Elcock", the son and heir of Richard Elcock (d.1762) (who later adopted the surname of Weddell in lieu of his

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

), later of Newby Hall, which he purchased in 1748. His great-uncle was Thomas Weddell of Earswick, Paymaster to the Navy, who made a large fortune during the

South Sea Bubble South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

Career

He was educated at Dr. Newcome's Academy in Hackney, and later at St. John’s College, Cambridge (1753), at the expense of his great-uncle Thomas Weddell, who bequeathed his fortune to Richard Elcock on condition that he and William should change their surnames to Weddell. He trained as a lawyer at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1753. In 1762 whilst on the

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

, William Weddell became heir to his father, his elder brother having died. William was thus in a position to start what became a renowned collection of classical antiquities, including the Barberini Venus, which sold in 2002 for £8 million. He upgraded and extended Newby Hall to house his collection. He was elected a

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

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

in 1766, sitting until 1774. He was elected for Malton in 1775, serving until 1784, and again in 1784, serving until 1792.

Marriage

He married Elizabeth Ramsden, a daughter of

Sir John Ramsden, 3rd Baronet Sir John Ramsden, 3rd Baronet (1699–1769) of Byram and Longley Hall, Yorkshire, was a British landowner and Independent Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1727 to 1754. Early life Ramsden was baptised on 21 March 1699, the el ...

and a half-sister of Lady Rockingham, by whom he had no surviving children.

Death and burial

He died on 30 April 1792 and was buried in

Ripon Minster The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a monastery by monks of the Irish tradition in the 660s, i ...

(now Ripon Cathedral) where survives his unusual monument consisting of a representation of a Greek temple containing his bust by

Joseph Nollekens Joseph Nollekens R.A. (11 August 1737 – 23 April 1823) was a sculptor from London generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th century. Life Nollekens was born on 11 August 1737 at 28 Dean Street, Soho, London, ...

Succession

He had no surviving children and left Newby Hall to his distant cousin Thomas Robinson, 2nd Earl de Grey (1781-1859), then 3rd

Baron Grantham Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

, who in 1803 in accordance with the bequest changed his name to Weddell, but in accordance with a further bequest from his maternal aunt changed it again in 1833 to Grey.G. C. Boase, ‘Grey, Thomas Philip de , second Earl De Grey (1781–1859)’, rev. H. C. G. Matthew, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 9 Aug 2017
/ref>

References