William Flower, 2nd Viscount Ashbrook (25 June 1744 – 30 August 1780) was an Anglo-Irish peer. The only son of Henry Flower, the 1st Viscount Ashbrook and Elizabeth Tatton, daughter of Lieutenant-General

William Tatton William Tatton (1659–1736) was a career soldier in the British Army who rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General. Career As a trusted associate of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough throughout the War of the Spanish Succession, in April ...

, William was born at

Castle Durrow Castle Durrow is an 18th-century country house in Durrow, County Laois, Ireland. The house was built in the pre-Palladian design and formal gardens that were popular in the 18th century. History The house was built between 1712-1716 by Colonel ...

, County Kilkenny, Ireland. His father died in 1752 when he was eight years old, and his mother in 1759, before he was fifteen. He was 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 ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, where he

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

on 29 November 1762.

Marriage to Betty (Elizabeth) Ridge

In 1763, possibly while on a fishing expedition on the River Thames William met Betty Ridge. Her father was Thomas Ridge, born in Buckland around 1712 of a family who made their living from catching fish in the Thames and selling them in Oxford. He had leased Noah's Ark Island, and was keeper of a

Flash lock A flash lock is a type of lock (water transport), lock for river or canal transport. Early locks were designed with a single gate, known as a flash lock or staunch lock. The earliest European references to what were clearly flash locks were in ...

, and a

licensed victualler A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord applies ...

. She was seventeen and he was nineteen, too young to marry without permission, as an orphan, from his maternal uncles, who were his guardians. On 20 March 1766 William and Betty were married at the church of St Denys in Northmoor.

Family

They lived at

Shellingford Shellingford, historically also spelt Shillingford, is a village and civil parish about southeast of Faringdon in the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire, England. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 Local Government Act transferred it to ...

Manor, and had six children who survived beyond infancy. # Elizabeth (1766-1847) # William (1767-1802) William Flower, 3rd Viscount Ashbrook # Harriet (1771-1813) # Caroline (1773-1844) # Sophia (1774-1794) # Henry Jeffrey (1776-1847) Henry Jeffrey Flower, 4th Viscount Ashbrook In 1789 The eldest daughter, Elizabeth, married Francis Warneford of

Highworth Highworth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, England, about north-east of Swindon town centre. The 2021 Census recorded a population of 8,258. The town is notable for its Queen Anne and Georgian buildings, dating ...

(brother of

Samuel Wilson Warneford Samuel Wilson Warneford (1763 – 11 January 1855) was an astute and eccentric English cleric and philanthropist from an old but generally impoverished family. He married into money, as his father had done, and thereafter spent his life trying t ...

) and they had two daughters who survived infancy # Caroline Elizabeth (1792-1846) - married John Longe (1799-1872) of

Spixworth Park Spixworth Hall was an Elizabethan country house in the civil parish of Spixworth in Norfolk, located just north of the city of Norwich on the Buxton Road. It was demolished in 1952. Location The house was located in Spixworth, close to the Bux ...

- son of

John Longe John Longe (1548–1589) was an English-born Church of Ireland archbishop of Armagh. He had a fondness for good living, which caused him to run up massive debts, but was also noted for his literary tastes. Life He was born in London; little see ...

(1765-1834). # Harriet Elizabeth (1803-1861) - married

Charles Wetherell Sir Charles Wetherell (1770 – 17 August 1846) was an England, English lawyer, politician, and judge. Life Wetherell was born in Oxford, the third son of Reverend Nathan Wetherell, of Durham, England, Durham, Master of the University College, ...

. The second eldest daughter, Harriet, married John Ellis Agar (1763-1797), second son of James Agar. Following his death she married

Pryse Pryse Pryse Loveden Pryse (1 June 1774 – 4 January 1849) of Gogerddan, Cardiganshire and Buscot Park, Berkshire was a British Lord Lieutenant and Member of Parliament for Cardigan Boroughs (UK Parliament constituency), Cardigan Boroughs from 1818 u ...

on 20 July 1798, but died in a house fire on 14 January 1813. The next daughter, Caroline, never married, but lived with her sister Elizabeth. The final daughter, Sophia, died aged 20.

Death

William died in August 1780 and was buried at Shellingford Church. There is a monument to him south of the chancel in the church. He left six children under 15 and a 35 year old widow. His widow, Elizabeth, married Reverend Doctor John Jones,

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

at Shellingford church, on 20 January 1790, and she died on 22 February 1808.

Marriage to Betty (Elizabeth) Ridge

Family

Death

References

Further reading