Charles Callis Western, 1st Baron Western (9 August 1767 – 4 November 1844), was a British landowner and Whig politician. He sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

for over forty years before his elevation to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

in 1833.

Background and education

Born at the family seat of Rivenhall Place in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, Western was the son of Charles Western and Frances Shirley, daughter and heiress of William Bolland. His father was killed in a chaise accident when Western was four-years-old, in which he was also present.maximiliangenealogy.co.uk Lord Western
/ref> He was educated at Newcombe's School in Hackney, Eton and

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

. When coming of age in 1788, he inherited Rivenhall Place, which had been in the Western family since the second half of the 17th century and commissioned

Humphrey Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great designer of the classic phase of the English landscape garden, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown. His style is thought of as the precursor of the more intrica ...

to give the Tudor house a new facade. However, two years later he left Rivenhall to his uncle and purchased

Felix Hall Felix Hall was a Black man from Alabama who, at age 19, was lynched, probably by fellow soldiers in Fort Benning, Georgia. Hall had volunteered to join an African-American unit being trained in Fort Benning. He was last seen alive on February 12, ...

Kelvedon Kelvedon is a village and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex in England, between Chelmsford and Colchester. It had a population of 4,717 in 2001, reducing to 3,587 at the 2011 Census. It is now home to several businesses includin ...

Political career

Western was returned to parliament as one of two representatives for

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is prod ...

in 1790, a seat he held until 1806, when he was defeated by Benjamin Gaskell. However, Gaskell was unseated on petition the following year and Western was elected in his place. He continued to represent the constituency until 1812. The latter year he was returned for

, a seat he held until the constituency was abolished in the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

. In Parliament he was a supporter of agricultural and electoral reform. He lost his seat at the 1832 general election but the following year he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Western, of Rivenhall in the County of Essex.

Personal life

Lord Western never married and the title became extinct on his death at Felix Hall in November 1844, aged 77. He entailed his estates to his cousin Thomas Western, who was created a Baronet of Rivenhall in 1864.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Western 1767 births 1844 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom People educated at Eton College Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs who were granted peerages People educated at Newcome's School People from Braintree District Members of Parliament for Maldon Peers of the United Kingdom created by William IV