Constituency : Kingston-upon-Hull 1832-7, 1838-41, Gateshead 1841-74
Sir William is another of those MPs who's more famous for something other than his long parliamentary career. He was born in Hertfordshire and got an MA at Cambridge. He was elected for Hull in 1832 as a free trader but was defeated by William Wilberforce five years later. However he unseated Wilberforce on petition in 1838. His main interest was colonial affairs and he sat on the select committee on colonial lands in 1836. He went on to be a commissioner for founding South Australia, a member of the New Zealand Association, on the select committee for New Zealand in 1840 and director then Chairman of the New Zealand Land Company. The Hutt river ( and thence the cities of Lower and Upper Hutt ) in New Zealand was named in his honour. However he never actually visited the country.
He married the widowed Countess of Strathmore , twenty years his senior , in 1831 after being tutor to her son and inherited valuable mining properties on her death in 1861.
Ousted from Hull in 1841 he was elected that same year for Gateshead and stayed put for over 30 years. He eventually achieved office under Palmerston holding the offices of Vice-President of the Board of Trade and Paymaster-General between 1860 and 1866. He did not hold particularly advanced views and so was probably intended to be a check on Thomas Milner-Gibson as President. He concluded a trade treaty with Austria in 1866.
He died in 1882 aged 81.
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