694 William Cartwright

Constituency  :  Oxfordshire  1868 - 85

William  won back  a  share  of  Oxfordshire's  representation, lost  since  1863.

William  was  the  son  of  a  distinguished  diplomat. He  lived  in  Germany  for  many  years  and  had  some  expertise  in  ancient  and  medieval  art  and   literature. He  had  a  large  art  collection. He  wrote  books  about  aspects  of  Catholicism. He  was  a  supporter  of  Garibaldi  and  Italian  unification. He  was  a  wealthy  landowner  and  member  of  the  Carlton  Club.

William  served  on  the  Commons  Diplomatic  Committee. His  parliamentary  interventions  were  usually  on  diplomatic  matters. he  visited  Berlin  in  1871  and  prophesied  that  Germany  would  fight  Russia  within  a  few  years.

In  the  1880s  William  was  an  incongruously  senior  member  of   a  grouping  the  "young  Whig   party"  who  were  particularly  unhappy  with  Gladstone's  Irish  land  legislation. He  succeeded  in  getting  an  amendment  to  the  1881  Act  accepted  which  allowed  landlords  direct  access  to  the  Land  Court.  He  complained  of  Gladstone's  failure  to  consult  with  the  party  generally.

William  became  a  Liberal  Unionist  and  stood  unsuccessfully  for  Mid-Northamptonshire  in  1886.

He  died  in  1915  aged  89.