William Windham

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William Windham by Sir Joshua Reynolds.jpg

William Windham PC PC (Irish) (born May 14, 1750 in London , † June 4, 1810 in Pall Mall, London) was a British politician .

Life

Windham was the son of landowner William Windham (1717–1761) and widow Sarah Hicks (1710–1792) from Tanfield , Essex.

Windham attended Eton College from 1757 to 1766 . He then briefly attended the University of Glasgow and from 1767 to 1771 the University College at Oxford . He was particularly interested in mathematics and wrote several treatises that remained unpublished. On July 10, 1798 he married Cecilia Forrest (1750-1824), the marriage remained childless. He undertook an unsuccessful polar expedition and traveled to Austria, Norway, Switzerland and Italy. In 1780 he ran unsuccessfully as a member of Parliament for Norwich .

In April 1783 he was appointed by the Duke of Portland to Chief Secretary for Ireland , that is, the head of the Irish administration, under Robert Henley , second Earl of Northington (1747–1786), the Viceroy of Ireland . However, he soon resigned as he feared damage to his health. Night work and overheated rooms are not beneficial to his constitution. However, Barker suspects a lack of trust from Henley, who believed rumors (unnamed) circulating in Dublin about Windham. In 1784 he was elected MP from Norwich, 1806 for the rotten Boroughs New Romney , from 1807 Higham Ferrers in East Northamptonshire .

From February 5, 1806 to March 25, 1807 he was Minister of War and Colonial Affairs .

He died after a hip operation and was buried on his Felbrigg estate . His wife built a tomb for him.

literature

  • David Wilkinson, "Windham, William (1750-1810)." In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by HCG Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., Edited by Lawrence Goldman, January 2008. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29725 (accessed February 11, 2013).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ May 3, 1750 according to the ODNB
  2. ↑ Windham, William (1750-1810)
  3. ↑ David Wilkinson, "Windham, William (1750-1810)." In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by HCG Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., Edited by Lawrence Goldman, January 2008. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29725 (accessed February 11, 2013)
  4. ^ Letter to Robert Henley dated July 16, 1783, after David Wilkinson, "Windham, William (1750–1810)." In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by HCG Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., Edited by Lawrence Goldman, January 2008. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29725 (accessed February 11, 2013)
  5. ^ GFR Barker, "Henley, Robert, second earl of Northington (1747–1786)." Rev. Gerard O'Brien. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by HCG Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., Edited by Lawrence Goldman, May 2009. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12932 (accessed February 11, 2013)
  6. ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology . Second Edition, London, 1961, 118
personal data
SURNAME Windham, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British politician, member of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH May 14, 1750
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH June 4, 1810
Place of death Pall Mall, London