Sir William Geary, 2nd Baronet (23 September 1756 – 6 August 1825) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician from

West Peckham West Peckham is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The River Bourne, Kent, River Bourne flows through the extreme west of the parish, and formerly powered a paper mill (River Bourne, Kent#Hamptons ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. 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 ...

from 1796 to 1806 and from 1812 to 1818.Sir William Geary
HANSARD 1803–2005. Parliament - History. Accessed 19 October 2023. He was the eldest surviving son of Admiral

Sir Francis Geary, 1st Baronet Sir Francis Geary, 1st Baronet (1709 – 7 February 1796) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War, and the American War of Independence, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral ...

of Polesden, Surrey and was educated at

Cheam School Cheam School is a mixed preparatory school located in Headley, in the civil parish of Ashford Hill with Headley in Hampshire. Originally a boys school, Cheam was founded in 1645 by George Aldrich. History The school started in Cheam, Surre ...

and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

(1773-6). He succeeded his father in 1796 after his elder brother Francis had been killed in the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. He lived at

Oxon Hoath Oxon Hoath is a Grade II* listed Châteauesque-style former manor house with 73 acres (29½ hectares) of grounds at West Peckham, Kent. The spellings Oxenhoath, Oxen Hoath and Oxonhoath are common alternatives. The manor is a former royal deer ...

. Geary was elected at the 1796 general election as one of the two Members of Parliament (MPs) for

. He was re-elected in

1802 Events January–March * January 5 – Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, begins removal of the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens, claiming they are at risk of destruction during the Ott ...

, but was defeated at the 1806 general election. He did no contest the seat in

1807 Events January–March *January 7 – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland issues an Order in Council prohibiting British ships from trading with France or its allies. *January 20 – The Sierra Leone Company, faced with b ...

, but was re-elected at the 1812 general election. He held the seat until 1818, when he was defeated at the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

. He was a Director of

Greenwich Hospital, London Greenwich Hospital was a permanent home for retired sailors of the Royal Navy, which operated from 1692 to 1869. Its buildings, initially Greenwich Palace, in Greenwich, London, were later used by the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and the Uni ...

from 1801 until his death in 1825. He had married Henrietta, the daughter and coheiress of Richard Nevill, MP of Furnace, co. Kildare and the widow of Edward Dering, with whom he had 3 sons, each born at Oxon Hoath, West Peckham:
• Sir William Richard Powlett Geary, 3rd Baronet (1810–1877)
• Francis Geary, 4th Baronet (1812–1895)
• Richard Nevill John Geary (1816–1824) He was succeeded by his eldest son.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Geary, William, 2nd Baronet 1756 births 1825 deaths People from West Peckham People educated at Cheam School Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Tory MPs (pre-1834) Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies 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 1812–1818 Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain