William Paston, 2nd Earl of Yarmouth (1654 – 25 December 1732) of

Oxnead Oxnead is a lost settlement and former civil parish, now in the parish of Brampton, in the Broadland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. It is roughly three miles south-east of Aylsham. It now consists mostly of St Michael's Church and ...

, Norfolk and Turnham Green, Chiswick, Middlesex was a British peer and politician. Oxnead Hall (geograph 5368207)

Born in 1654, he was the son of

Robert Paston, 1st Earl of Yarmouth Robert Paston, 1st Earl of Yarmouth, FRS (29 May 1631 – 8 March 1683) was an English scientist and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1660 and 1673 when he was created Viscount Yarmouth. He was created Earl of Yarmouth in 1679 ...

and his wife, Rebecca, ''née'' Clayton and was educated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Yarmouth in 1683, inheriting his estate and Oxnead Hall. Paston 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 o ...

for

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

from 1678. In 1679, when his father was made an earl, William adopted the style of Lord Paston. He continued to represent Norwich until he inherited his father's title. He converted to Roman Catholicism and in February 1687, James II appointed him

Treasurer of the Household The Treasurer of the Household is a member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The position is usually held by one of the government deputy Chief Whips in the House of Commons. The current holder of the office is Mar ...

. He was also appointed joint

Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

and

Custos Rotulorum of Wiltshire This is a list of people who have served as Custos Rotulorum of Wiltshire. * Sir Richard Lyster bef. 1544–1553 * Sir John Thynne bef. 1558–1580 * Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke bef. 1584–1601 * Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of ...

in 1688. He reconverted to Anglicanism in 1689, but refused to swear allegiance to

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 ...

and

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

when they came to the throne that year, subsequently losing all his offices. Suspected of

Jacobitism , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...

, he was imprisoned twice, but was admitted to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

in 1696. He was briefly Vice-Admiral of Norfolk in 1719. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in 1722.

Private life

Yarmouth died heavily in debt on 25 December 1732 at

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

, Surrey, aged seventy-eight. In 1671, he had married the widowed Charlotte FitzRoy, the illegitimate daughter of Charles II and Elizabeth Killigrew. They had four children who survived childhood, though only one survived him: *

Charles Paston, Lord Paston Charles Paston, Lord Paston (29 May 1673 – 15 December 1718) was an English politician. Early life and family Paston was the eldest son of William Paston, 2nd Earl of Yarmouth and Charlotte Paston, Countess of Yarmouth, the illegitimate daughter ...

(1673–1718) *Lady Charlotte Paston (1675–1736), married Thomas Herne. *Lady Rebecca Paston (1681–1726), married

Sir John Holland, 2nd Baronet Sir John Holland, 2nd Baronet (c. 1669 – by July 1724), of Quidenham Hall, Norfolk was a British Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1701 to 1710. Early life Holland was the second, but eldest surviving ...

. *Hon. William Paston (1682–1711) His wife having died in 1684, he married Elizabeth Wiseman (the widow of Sir Robert Wiseman and daughter of

Dudley North, 4th Baron North Dudley North, 4th Baron North, KB (160224 June 1677) of Kirtling Tower, Cambridgeshire was an English politician, who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1628 and 1660. Life North was the elder son of Dudley North, 3rd Baron ...

) in March 1687. As his sons, his brothers and their male heirs had predeceased him, his titles became extinct. His heavily mortgaged estate had to be sold.

References

Sources

*John Miller
''Paston, Robert, first earl of Yarmouth (1631–1683)''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 26 May 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Yarmouth, William Paston, 2nd Earl of 1654 births 1732 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism Lord-Lieutenants of Wiltshire Treasurers of the Household 17th-century Anglicans 17th-century Roman Catholics English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 Fellows of the Royal Society Earls of Yarmouth (1679 creation)

Private life

See also

References

Sources