William Edwardes, 1st Baron Kensington (c. 1711 – 13 December 1801) of Johnston Hall, Pembrokeshire, was a British landowner and a long-standing Member of Parliament.

Biography

Edwardes was the second surviving son of Francis Edwardes, Member of Parliament for

Haverfordwest Haverfordwest ( , ; ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a Community (Wales), community consisting of 12,042 people, making it the secon ...

, and Lady Elizabeth Rich, only daughter of

Robert Rich, 5th Earl of Warwick Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Holland, 5th Earl of Warwick ( – 1675) was an English peer who sat in the House of Lords from 1660 until his death. Life Rich was the eldest son of Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland (1590–1649), by his wife Isabel Cope, ...

and heiress of her nephew Edward Henry Rich, 7th Earl of Warwick. The Edwardes family owned extensive lands in

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

and

Cardiganshire Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Ab ...

and on the death of his cousin the 7th Earl in 1721 and his elder brother in 1738, William inherited the additional estates of the Rich family, which included

Holland House Holland House, originally known as Cope Castle, was an early Jacobean architecture, Jacobean country house in Kensington, London, situated in a country estate that is now Holland Park. It was built in 1605 by the diplomat Sir Walter Cope. The b ...

in Kensington. In 1776 he was created Baron Kensington in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

. This was a revival of the barony held by the Earls of Warwick and Holland which had become extinct on the death of the eighth and last Earl in 1759. Edwardes was elected to his father's old seat of Haverfordwest in 1747, a seat he held until 1801, with a brief exception between 1784 and 1786. His tenure as member for Haverfordwest was based on an arrangement with Lord Milford, the member for the Pembrokeshire county constituency, whose family treated Haverfordwest like a pocket borough. Lord Kensington died in 1801. He had firstly married his cousin Rachel, the daughter of Owen Edwardes of Trefgarn but after her death in 1760 he had married Elizabeth Warren in 1762. He was succeeded in the barony by their only son

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 ...

, who also succeeded him as member of parliament for Haverfordwest. Lady Kensington died in November 1814.

References

Sources

* *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kensington, William Edwardes, 1st Baron 1710s births 1801 deaths

Peers of Ireland created by George III Edwardes, William Edwardes, William Edwardes, William Edwardes, William British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Welsh constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs who were granted peerages Year of birth uncertain Hereditary peers elected to the House of Commons