William Baker (3 October 1743 – 20 January 1824) was a British politician.

Life

William Baker was the eldest son of Sir William Baker, MP, educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

(1753–60). Admitted to

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

in 1761, he did not matriculate there. He studied law at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

(1761), where he was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1775. He succeeded his father in 1770, inheriting and renovating the Bayfordbury country house in Hertfordshire. He was elected a

Sheriff of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

for the same year. Baker was the Member of Parliament for Aldborough 4 March 1777 – 8 September 1780,

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a Ford (crossing), ford on ...

7 September 1780 – 30 March 1784,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

23 June 1790 – 10 July 1802 and 11 February 1805 – 11 May 1807 and Plympton Erle 22 March 1768 – 10 October 1774. He died at the age of 80. He had married twice: firstly with Juliana, the daughter of

Thomas Penn Thomas Penn ( – 21 March 1775) was an English landowner and mercer who was the List of colonial governors of Pennsylvania, chief proprietor of Pennsylvania from 1746 to 1775. He was one of 17 children of William Penn, the founder of the colo ...

of Stoke Park, Buckinghamshire and the granddaughter of

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

Governor of Pennsylvania The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, with whom he had a daughter; and secondly with Sophia, the daughter of

John Conyers John James Conyers Jr. (May 16, 1929October 27, 2019) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. Conyers was the sixth-longest serving member of Congress and the lo ...

of Copt Hall, Essex, with whom he had 9 sons and 6 daughters, including Colonel George Baker.

References

historyofparliamentonline.org, ''Baker, William (1743-1824), of Bayfordbury, Herts.''

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, William 1743 births 1824 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Members of the Inner Temple Sheriffs of the City of London Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Hertfordshire British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Hertfordshire UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Plympton Erle