Sir William Pynsent, 2nd Baronet (c. 1679–1765) 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 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 1715 to 1722. He is commemorated by a tall monument at

Curry Rivel Curry Rivel is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, around west of Somerton, Somerset, Somerton and east of Taunton in the South Somerset district. The parish had a population of 2,347 at the 2021 census, and includes the hamlets ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

erected by William Pitt the Elder, to whom he left his entire fortune. Pynsent was the eldest son of Sir William Pynsent, 1st Baronet MP of

Urchfont Urchfont is a rural village and civil parish in the southwest of the Vale of Pewsey and north of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, about southeast of the market town of Devizes. The hamlet of Cuckoo's Corner is in the northwest of the vil ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, and his wife Patience Bond, daughter of John Bond, alderman of London. He married Mary Star, widow of Edmund Star of New Court, and daughter of Thomas Jennings of Burton, Somerset. He succeeded his father in the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1719. Pynsent acquired an estate at Burton through his wife, and after the general election of 1715 was returned on petition as a Whig Member of Parliament for

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

on 30 August 1715. He voted for the septennial bill and the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts. He did not vote on the

Peerage Bill {{short description, Proposed British law of 1719 The Peerage Bill was a 1719 measure proposed by the British Whig government led by James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope, and Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, which would have largely halted th ...

, and thereafter did not attend the House. It was said he would give up his seat as soon as the Government provided him with an office of profit. This did not happen and he remained an MP until the end of the Parliament. Although he never stood again, he carried on playing a part in politics as he had an interest in parliamentary seats in Somerset. He was

High Sheriff of Somerset The office of High Sheriff of Somerset is an ancient shrievalty which has been in existence since the 11th century. Originally known as the "Sheriff of Somerset", the role was retitled on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government ...

for the year 1741 to 1742. Burton Pynsent Monument

Pynsent died on 8 January 1765, aged 85, outliving his son and three daughters who had died without issue.

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

wrote of him: "He was said to have had parts and humour, not many scruples, living to her death with his only daughter, in pretty notorious incest". He left his whole fortune to

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British people, British British Whig Party, Whig politician, statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him "Chatham" or "Pit ...

who was no relation of his and whom he had never met. His will gave no reason for the bequest, merely observing: "I hope he will like my Burton estate, where I now live, well enough to make it his country seat". Pitt erected the Burton Pynsent Monument nearby in his memory at a cost of £2,000,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinsent, Sir William, 2nd Baronet 1670s births 1765 deaths British MPs 1715–1722 High sheriffs of Somerset Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Baronets in the Baronetage of England