Sir William Bellingham, 1st Baronet (c. 1756 – 27 October 1826) was an Irish-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

politician and the

Controller of Storekeepers Accounts The Controller of Storekeepers Accounts also known as the Comptroller of Storekeepers Accounts was a principal member of the Navy Board who was responsible for managing and processing all naval store-keeping accounts and deliveries to naval yards ...

for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. Bellingham was charged with organizing and procuring

provisions Provision(s) may refer to: * Provision (accounting), a term for liability in accounting * Provision (contracting), a term for a procurement condition * ''Provision'' (album), an album by Scritti Politti * A term for the distribution, storing and/ ...

for the

Vancouver Expedition The Vancouver Expedition (1791–1795) was a four-and-a-half-year voyage of exploration and diplomacy, commanded by Captain George Vancouver of the Royal Navy. The British expedition circumnavigated the globe and made contact with five continen ...

. Though he never saw the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

Bellingham Bay Bellingham Bay is a bay of the Salish Sea located in Washington State in the United States. It is separated from the Strait of Georgia on the west by the Lummi Peninsula, Portage Island, and Lummi Island. It is bordered on the east by Bellingh ...

and the city of

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

, are named for him.

Early life

William Bellingham was the son of Col. Alan Bellingham (of

Castlebellingham Castlebellingham () is a village and townland in County Louth, Ireland. The village has become quieter since the construction of the new M1 motorway, which bypasses it. The population of Castlebellingham-Kilsaran (named for the two townlands whi ...

) and Alice Montgomery, daughter of Rev. Hans MontgomeryCokayne, George Edward (editor). ''The Complete Baronetage''. Vol. 5. Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983. of Grey Abbey House,

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. Bellingham was one of four siblings (O'Bryen, Thomas, and Alan).Mosley, Charles (editor). ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes''. Vol. 1. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books), Ltd, 2003. He attended

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

, graduating in 1778 as a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

. In 1783 he married Hester Frances Cholmondeley (1763-1844), granddaughter of

George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley ( ; 2 January 1703 – 10 June 1770), styled as Viscount Malpas from 1725 to 1733, was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British Whig (British political party), Whig politician and nobleman who sat in th ...

and daughter of

Mary Woffington Mary Woffington Cholmondeley (1729 – 4 April 1811) was an Irish socialite of the Georgian era. Her sister was the famous actor Peg Woffington. After a failed attempt at an acting career, Mary married the second son of the Earl of Cholmondel ...

Career

Bellingham moved to

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, and from 1784 through 1789 held the elected office of Member of Parliament 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 ...

. In 1789 he was appointed commissioner for the victualling of the Royal Navy,. on the 21 January 1790 he was appointed

a post he held til 1793 when he was succeeded by Sir Frederick Rogers. During this time he oversaw the provisioning of

George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

's expedition along the West Coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

was named by Vancouver in his honor. Later the city of

was also named for him. He was the Receiver of the Sixpenny Office, an Admiralty fund that collected sixpence from every serving sailor's wage for the Greenwich Hospital. He became the private secretary of the Right Honourable William Pitt, and was created a baronet, of Castle Bellingham on 19 April 1796. He was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and was

Receiver General A receiver general (or receiver-general) is an officer responsible for accepting payments on behalf of a government, and for making payments to a government on behalf of other parties. See also * Treasurer * Receiver General for Canada * Recei ...

of the Land and Assessed Taxe of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He died in 1826 and was buried in the family vault at St Mary's Church of Ireland, Kilsaran Parish, in Castle Bellingham.''Journal of the County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society''
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellingham, William 1750s births 1826 deaths 18th-century Irish politicians 19th-century Irish politicians Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

British MPs 1784–1790 Politicians from County Louth Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies History of Bellingham, Washington People from Castlebellingham