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William à Court, 1st Baron Heytesbury

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Lord Heytesbury
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
In office
17 July 1844 – 8 July 1846
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterSir Robert Peel, Bt
Preceded byThe Earl de Grey
Succeeded byThe Earl of Bessborough
Personal details
Born(1779-07-11)11 July 1779
The Close, Salisbury,
Wiltshire
Died31 May 1860(1860-05-31) (aged 80)
NationalityEnglish
Political partyTory
Spouse(s)Maria Bouverie
(1783–1844)
EducationEton College

William à Court, 1st Baron Heytesbury GCB PC (11 July 1779 – 31 May 1860), known as Sir William à Court, 2nd Baronet, from 1817 to 1828, was an English diplomat and Conservative politician.

Background and education

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Heytesbury was the eldest son of Sir William à Court, 1st Baronet, and Laetitia, daughter of Henry Wyndham. He was educated at Eton and entered the Diplomatic Service at an early age.

Political and diplomatic career

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In 1812 Heytesbury was elected to the House of Commons for Dorchester, a seat he held until 1814. He was also Envoy Extraordinary to the Barbary States from 1813 to 1814, to the Kingdom of Naples in 1814 and to Spain from 1822 to 1824 and served as Ambassador to Portugal between 1824 and 1828.

During 1820s in Russia

The latter year Heytesbury was appointed Ambassador to Russia, where he had to deal with the Russo-Turkish War of 1828 to 1829 and the tensions created by the Russian Empire's occupation of the Danubian Principalities.[1] He remained in Russia until 1832. In 1835 Sir Robert Peel nominated him for the office of Governor-General of India, but the Tory government soon fell and he never took up the post. However, he later served under Peel as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland from 1844 to 1846, and presided over the beginning of the Great Famine (Ireland). Heytesbury succeeded his father as second Baronet in 1817, was admitted to the Privy Council the same year and made a GCB in 1819. In 1828 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Heytesbury, of Heytesbury in the County of Wiltshire.

Family

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Lord Heytesbury married Maria Rebecca, daughter of the Hon. William Henry Bouverie, in 1808. They had four sons and two daughters. He died in May 1860, aged 80, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son William.

Arms

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Coat of arms of William à Court, 1st Baron Heytesbury[2]
Crest
An eagle displayed sable charged on the body with two chevronels or and holding in the beak a lily slipped proper.
Escutcheon
Per fess or and paly of six erminois and azure, in chief an eagle displayed sable, beaked and membered gules, charged on the body with two chevronels argent.
Supporters
Two eagles, wings elevated and displayed sable, beaked and membered gules, each holding in the beak a lily slipped proper.
Motto
Grandescunt aucta labore (Increased by labour, they grow large)
Orders
Order of the Bath - Knight Grand Cross (GCB)

References

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  1. ^ Florescu, Radu R. (2021), The Struggle Against Russia in the Romanian Principalities, Histra Books, Las Vegas, pp. 170, 190, 191, 275 & 323, ISBN 9781592110261
  2. ^ Edmund Lodge (1838). The genealogy of the existing British peerage ... (6th ed.). p. 248.

Sources

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Dorchester
2 seat constituency
(with Robert Williams)

1812–1814
Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by British Ambassador to Spain
1822–1825
Succeeded by
Preceded by British Ambassador to Portugal
1824–1827
Succeeded by
Preceded by British Ambassador to Russia
1828–1832
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1844–1846
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Governor of the Isle of Wight
1841–1857
Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Heytesbury
1828–1860
Succeeded by
Baronetage of Great Britain
Preceded by Baronet
(of Heytesbury)
1817–1860
Succeeded by