William Edwardes, 4th Baron Kensington PC (11 May 1835 – 7 October 1896), also 1st Baron Kensington in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

, styled The Honourable William Edwardes between 1852 and 1872, was a British landowner and Liberal politician. He notably served as

Comptroller of the Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of ...

from 1880 to 1885 and as

Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard The Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard is a Government of the United Kingdom, UK Government post usually held by the Government Whip (politics), Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords. The present Captain is Margaret Whe ...

from 1892 to 1895.

Background

Edwardes was the eldest son of Captain

William Edwardes, 3rd Baron Kensington William Edwardes, 3rd Baron Kensington (3 February 1801 – 1 January 1872), was a British peer and naval commander. Biography Kensington was the son of William Edwardes, 2nd Baron Kensington, and Dorothy Patricia Thomas. He succeeded his fat ...

, by his wife Laura Jane Ellison, daughter of Cuthbert Ellison, of Hebburn Hall,

Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the South Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It was formerly in County Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the south bank of the River Tyne between Gateshead and Jarrow and ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

.thepeerage.com William Edwardes, 4th Baron Kensington
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Political career

Edwardes was elected to 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 ...

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 ...

in 1868, a seat he held until 1885. In 1872 he succeeded his father as fourth Baron Kensington but as this was an

Irish peerage 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 ...

it did not entitle him to a seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

and he was able to remain a member of the House of Commons. When the Liberals came to power in 1880 under

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

, Kensington was admitted to the Privy Council and appointed

(government whip in the House of Commons), a post he held until the government fell in 1885. Following the abolition of his Haverfordwest constituency in 1885, Kensington sought election for Hornsey, but was unsuccessful. In 1886, he was created Baron Kensington, of Kensington in the County of Middlesex, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, which gave him a seat in the House of Lords. The same year the Liberals returned to power under Gladstone, and Kensington served briefly as a

Lord-in-waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without ...

(government whip in the House of Lords) from March until the fall of the government in July. The Liberals were out of office for the next six years, but returned to power in 1892, when Gladstone appointed him

. He retained this office when

Lord Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of h ...

became Prime Minister in 1894. The Liberal government fell the following year, and Kensington never returned to office. Apart from his political career he also held the honorary post of

Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire. After 1715, all Lord Lieutenants were also Custos Rotulorum of Pembrokeshire. The county corporate of Haverfordwest was included in this lieutenancy, except for the per ...

between 1872 and 1896.

Local government

Kensington was elected to

Pembrokeshire County Council Pembrokeshire County Council () is the local authority for the county of Pembrokeshire, one of the principal areas of Wales. History There have been two bodies called Pembrokeshire County Council. The first existed from 1889 until 1974, and th ...

at the first county elections in 1889. He presided at the first meeting of the council and was immediately elected an alderman.

Family

Lord Kensington married Grace Elizabeth Johnstone-Douglas, daughter of Robert Johnstone-Douglas, in 1867. They had four sons and five daughters. He died in October 1896, aged 61, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son, William. Lady Kensington died in 1910.

Death

Lord Kensington died suddenly on 7 October 1896 while taking part in a shooting expedition at

Floors Castle Floors Castle, in Roxburghshire, south-east Scotland, is the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe. Despite its name it is an estate house rather than a fortress. It was built in the 1720s by the architect William Adam for John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxbur ...

, Roxburghshire, Scotland.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kensington, William Edwardes, 4th Baron 1835 births 1896 deaths

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 ...

Liberal Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Liberal Party (UK) Lords-in-Waiting Lord-lieutenants of Pembrokeshire Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs who inherited peerages UK MPs who were granted peerages Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Pembrokeshire constituencies Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria Hereditary peers elected to the House of Commons