William Henry Ord (1803 – 9 November 1838) was a British politician, who represented Newport in Parliament from 1832 until 1837. Ord was the only son of William Ord, a landowner who was MP for Morpeth 1802–32 and

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, and his wife Mary Scott. 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

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he was President of the

Cambridge Union Society The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a historic Debate, debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. The society was founded in 1815 making it the ...

in 1822. He then trained as a barrister at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

. In 1829, he married Frances Vere Loraine, daughter of Sir William Loraine, 4th Baronet. Ord was elected for Newport at the 1832 general election as a Liberal, and re-elected at the 1835 general election. After the 1835 election he was made a

Lord of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords (or Ladies) Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second L ...

in the Second Melbourne ministry, with a salary of £1,200. This necessitated a

ministerial by-election From 1708 to 1926, Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of parliament (MPs) of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of Great Britain (and later the United Kingdom) automatically vacated their seats when made Mi ...

; Ord was returned unopposed on 27 April. It was reported that he had been earlier offered the post in June 1834 at the end of the Grey ministry, as a gesture to acknowledge his father's support, but had declined at the time as he thought it would be unlikely he could secure re-election. During 1836, at the Treasury, he worked on the consolidation and reduction of stamp duties on newspapers and other publications; his friend Charles Knight considered the task "herculean" and wrote later that "the labour killed him". Ord stood down at dissolution in 1837 and did not contest the general election. Ord died at his father's residence, Whitfield Hall in Northumberland, on 9 November 1838. He was aged 35.

References

{{reflist 1803 births 1838 deaths UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 Members of Parliament for Newport (Isle of Wight) Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies