Charles Hanbury Williams: Difference between revisions
m date format audit, minor formatting |
added link to Stanisław August Poniatowski, king of Poland-Lithuania |
||
(20 intermediate revisions by 14 users not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|Welsh writer and British diplomat, 1708–1759}} |
|||
{{About|the British diplomat and satirist|other people called Charles or Charlie Williams|Charles Williams (disambiguation){{!}}Charles Williams}} |
{{About|the British diplomat and satirist|other people called Charles or Charlie Williams|Charles Williams (disambiguation){{!}}Charles Williams}} |
||
{{Use |
{{Use British English|date=January 2021}} |
||
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}} |
|||
{{infobox officeholder |
{{infobox officeholder |
||
|honorific_prefix = |
|honorific_prefix = |
||
Line 10: | Line 12: | ||
|term_start = 1754 |
|term_start = 1754 |
||
|term_end = 1759 |
|term_end = 1759 |
||
|alongside = [[Richard Gorges]] |
|alongside = [[Richard Gorges (Leominster MP)|Richard Gorges]] |
||
|predecessor = [[Sir Robert de Cornwall]]<br />[[James Peachey]] |
|predecessor = [[Sir Robert de Cornwall]]<br />[[James Peachey]] |
||
|successor = [[Richard Gorges]]<br />[[Chase Price]] |
|successor = [[Richard Gorges (Leominster MP)|Richard Gorges]]<br />[[Chase Price]] |
||
|office1 = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Monmouthshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Monmouthshire]] |
|office1 = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Monmouthshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Monmouthshire]] |
||
|term_start1 = 1735 |
|term_start1 = 1735 |
||
Line 24: | Line 26: | ||
|death_place = |
|death_place = |
||
|parents = [[John Hanbury (1664–1734)|John Hanbury]]<br>Bridget Ayscough Hanbury |
|parents = [[John Hanbury (1664–1734)|John Hanbury]]<br>Bridget Ayscough Hanbury |
||
|spouse = {{marriage|Lady Frances Coningsby |
|spouse = {{marriage|Lady Frances Coningsby|1 July 1732}} |
||
|children = |
|children = |
||
|relations = [[Edward Ayscough (died 1699)|Sir Edward Ayscough]] (grandfather) |
|relations = [[Edward Ayscough (died 1699)|Sir Edward Ayscough]] (grandfather) |
||
}} |
}} |
||
'''Sir Charles Hanbury Williams''', [[Order of the Bath|KB]] (8 December 1708 – 2 November 1759) was a [[Wales|Welsh]] |
'''Sir Charles Hanbury Williams''', [[Order of the Bath|KB]] (8 December 1708 – 2 November 1759) was a [[Wales|Welsh]] diplomat, writer and [[Satire|satirist]]. He was a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] from 1734 until his death. |
||
==Early life== |
==Early life== |
||
Hanbury was the son of a Welsh [[ironmaster]] and Member of Parliament, [[John Hanbury (1664–1734)|John Hanbury]],{{sfn |Chisholm |1911}} and his second wife, Bridget Ayscough, eldest daughter of [[Edward Ayscough (died 1699)|Sir Edward Ayscough]] of Stallingborough and South Kelsey. With his father's marriage to Bridget came a fortune of £10,000 and connections with established political families. His mother was a close friend of [[Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough]]. |
|||
Charles went to Eton, where he befriended the novelist Henry Fielding.{{sfn |Chisholm |1911}} |
|||
In 1720, |
In 1720, he assumed the name of Williams, under the terms of a bequest from his godfather, Charles Williams of Caerleon. |
||
==Career== |
==Career== |
||
[[File:Catherine II's letter to C.Williams (1756).jpg|thumb|A letter to Sir Charles Williams, by Grand Duchess Catherine Alexeyevna]] |
[[File:Catherine II's letter to C.Williams (1756).jpg|thumb|A letter to Sir Charles Williams, by Grand Duchess Catherine Alexeyevna]] |
||
Williams entered Parliament in 1734, representing the [[Monmouthshire (UK Parliament constituency)| Monmouthshire]] constituency as a supporter of [[Robert Walpole]], and held the seat until 1747. In 1754 he was returned to the commons as member for [[Leominster (UK Parliament constituency) |Leominster]], holding the seat until his death. |
|||
From 1747 |
From 1747 to 1750, Williams served as the British Ambassador in [[Dresden]]. In 1748 he had the same function in [[Poland]] and witnessed a Polish [[Sejm]], where he met members of the influential [[Czartoryski]] family ([[August Aleksander Czartoryski]]). When the future King of Poland, [[Stanisław August Poniatowski |Stanisław Poniatowski]], was receiving medical treatment in [[Berlin]], Sir Charles met him when sent there as Ambassador (1750–1751). He entered into Polish and Russian history in [[Saint Petersburg]] in 1755 by introducing [[Stanisław August Poniatowski|Stanisław Poniatowski]] to the Russian [[Catherine the Great| Grand Duchess Catherine Alexeyevna]] (the future Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia), from which a famous romance developed between the Polish aristocrat and the wife of the Russian heir-apparent. |
||
In 1739, Williams gave support for the establishment of the [[Foundling Hospital]] and served as one of its founding governors. Williams's father bought the Coldbrook Park estate near Abergavenny for him from his godfather's bequest. There |
In 1739, Williams gave support for the establishment of the [[Foundling Hospital]] and served as one of its founding governors. Williams's father bought the [[Coldbrook Park]] estate near Abergavenny for him from his godfather's bequest. There he added a nine-bay, two-storey Georgian façade in 1746. |
||
===Seven Years' War=== |
===Seven Years' War=== |
||
{{further|Great Britain in the Seven Years War}} |
{{further|Great Britain in the Seven Years War}} |
||
Williams played a major role as a British envoy at the court in Russia during the [[Seven Years' War]]. Although Russia |
Williams played a major role as a [[List of ambassadors of Great Britain to Russia | British envoy]] (1752-1759) at the court in [[Russian Empire | Russia]] during the [[Seven Years' War]] of 1756-1763. Although Russia went to war (1756-1762) against Britain's ally [[Kingdom of Prussia | Prussia]], Russia and Britain remained at peace. |
||
===Poet=== |
|||
⚫ | |||
Hanbury Williams became known as one of the prominent [[wit]]s about town, and following in the tradition of [[Alexander Pope]] (1688-1744) he wrote a great deal of [[satire| satirical]] light verse, including ''Isabella, or the Morning'' (1740), satires on Ruth Darlington and Pulleney (1741–1742), ''The Country Girl'' (1742), ''Lessons for the Day'' (1742), and ''Letter to Mr Dodsley'' (1743). Collections of his poems appeared in 1763 and of his ''Works'' in 1822.{{sfn |Chisholm| 1911}} |
|||
⚫ | |||
==Personal life== |
==Personal life== |
||
[[File:Frances Hanbury Capel Countess of Essex 1757 mezzotint by James McArdell.jpg|thumb|right|Frances, daughter to Charles Hanbury Williams]] |
|||
On 1 July 1732, he married Lady Frances Coningsby (1707/8–1781) at |
On 1 July 1732, he married Lady Frances Coningsby (1707/8–1781) at St James, [[Westminster]], London.<ref>''The Register of Marriages in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster. 1723-1754''. 1 July 1732.</ref> Lady Frances was a daughter of [[Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby]] and Lady Frances Jones (second daughter and sole heiress of [[Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh]] and the Hon. Frances Willoughby, a daughter and heiress of [[Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby]]).<ref name="EarlConingsby">{{Cite web |title=Coningsby, Earl of (GB, 1719 - 1761) |url=http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/coningsby1719.htm#CONINGSBY_1719_1 |website=www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk |publisher=Heraldic Media Limited |accessdate=4 May 2020}}</ref> Together, they had two daughters: |
||
⚫ | *Frances Hanbury-Williams (c. 1735–1759), who married [[William Capel, 4th Earl of Essex]], the son of [[William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex]] and [[Elizabeth Capell, Countess of Essex (1704–1784)|Lady Elizabeth Russell]] (a daughter of [[Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford]]).<ref name="EarlEssex">{{Cite web |title=Essex, Earl of (E, 1661) |url=http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/essex1661.htm#ESSEX_1661_6 |website=www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk |publisher=Heraldic Media Limited |accessdate=4 May 2020}}</ref> |
||
⚫ | *Charlotte Hanbury-Williams (1738–1790), who married [[Robert Boyle-Walsingham]], the fifth and youngest son of [[Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon]], in 1759. He was lost aboard [[HMS Thunderer|HMS ''Thunderer'']] in a West Indian hurricane.<ref name="EarlShannon">{{Cite web |title=Shannon, Earl of (I, 1756) |url=http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/shannon1756.htm |website=www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk |publisher=Heraldic Media Limited |accessdate=4 May 2020 |archive-date=21 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921230030/http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/shannon1756.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> |
||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | *Frances Hanbury-Williams ( |
||
⚫ | *Charlotte Hanbury-Williams (1738–1790), who married [[Robert Boyle-Walsingham]], the fifth and youngest son of [[Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon]], in 1759. He was lost aboard [[HMS Thunderer|HMS ''Thunderer'']] in a West Indian hurricane.<ref name="EarlShannon">{{ |
||
⚫ | |||
===Descendants=== |
===Descendants=== |
||
Through his eldest daughter Frances, he was |
Through his eldest daughter Frances, he was grandfather to Elizabeth Capel (wife of [[Baron Monson|John Monson, 3rd Baron Monson]]) and [[George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex]], who married [[Sarah, Countess of Essex|Sarah Bazett]], and after her death, [[Catherine Stephens, Countess of Essex|Catherine Stephens]]).<ref name="EarlEssex"/> |
||
Through his second daughter Charlotte, he was |
Through his second daughter Charlotte, he was grandfather to Richard Boyle-Walsingham (1762–1788), who died unmarried, and [[Charlotte FitzGerald-de Ros, 20th Baroness de Ros|Charlotte Boyle-Walsingham]], later ''[[suo jure]]'' [[Baroness de Ros]], who married [[Lord Henry FitzGerald]], fourth son of [[James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster]] and Lady Emily Lennox, Duchess of Leinster.<ref name="BarondeRos">{{Cite web |title=de Ros, Baron (E, 1299) |url=http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/ros1299.htm#DE_ROS_1264_20 |website=www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk |publisher=Heraldic Media Limited |accessdate=4 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101116183800/http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/ros1299.htm#DE_ROS_1264_20 |archive-date=16 November 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> |
||
===Legacy=== |
===Legacy=== |
||
Williams |
Williams inspired the character Charles Edaston in the 1913 [[George Bernard Shaw]] play ''[[Great Catherine (play)|Great Catherine]]'', which recounts the story of a British envoy to Catherine's court. It was [[Great Catherine (film)|filmed]] starring [[Peter O'Toole]] in 1968. Williams also left poems said to be "witty but licentious".<ref name=daven>{{Cite book |last=Davenport |first=Richard Alfred |author-link=Richard Alfred Davenport |title=A Dictionary of Biography p. 571 |year=1831 |publisher=Chiswick Press |url=https://archive.org/details/adictionarybiog00presgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/adictionarybiog00presgoog/page/n579 571]}}</ref> |
||
==Sources== |
==Sources== |
||
{{reflist|30em}} |
{{reflist|30em}} |
||
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Hanbury Williams, Sir Charles|volume=12|page=908}} |
|||
{{A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature}} |
*{{A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature}} |
||
==Further reading== |
==Further reading== |
||
Line 81: | Line 87: | ||
|title=Member of Parliament for [[Monmouthshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Monmouthshire]] |
|title=Member of Parliament for [[Monmouthshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Monmouthshire]] |
||
|years=1735–1747 |
|years=1735–1747 |
||
|with |
|with=[[Thomas Morgan (judge advocate)|Thomas Morgan]] |
||
|before=[[John Hanbury (1664–1734)|John Hanbury]]<br />[[Thomas Morgan (judge advocate)|Thomas Morgan]] |
|before=[[John Hanbury (1664–1734)|John Hanbury]]<br />[[Thomas Morgan (judge advocate)|Thomas Morgan]] |
||
|after=[[William Morgan (of Tredegar, younger)|William Morgan]]<br />[[Capel Hanbury]] |
|after=[[William Morgan (of Tredegar, younger)|William Morgan]]<br />[[Capel Hanbury]] |
||
Line 88: | Line 94: | ||
|title=Member of Parliament for [[Leominster (UK Parliament constituency)|Leominster]] |
|title=Member of Parliament for [[Leominster (UK Parliament constituency)|Leominster]] |
||
|years=1754–1759 |
|years=1754–1759 |
||
|with |
|with=[[Richard Gorges (Leominster MP)|Richard Gorges]] |
||
|before=[[Sir Robert de Cornwall]]<br />[[James Peachey]] |after=[[Richard Gorges]]<br />[[Chase Price]] |
|before=[[Sir Robert de Cornwall]]<br />[[James Peachey]] |after=[[Richard Gorges (Leominster MP)|Richard Gorges]]<br />[[Chase Price]] |
||
}} |
}} |
||
{{s-dip}} |
{{s-dip}} |
||
Line 115: | Line 121: | ||
[[Category:British MPs 1754–1761]] |
[[Category:British MPs 1754–1761]] |
||
[[Category:Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath]] |
[[Category:Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath]] |
||
[[Category:Lord- |
[[Category:Lord-lieutenants of Herefordshire]] |
||
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies]] |
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies]] |
||
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies]] |
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies]] |
Latest revision as of 16:31, 10 November 2024
Sir Charles Hanbury Williams | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Leominster | |
In office 1754–1759 Serving with Richard Gorges | |
Preceded by | Sir Robert de Cornwall James Peachey |
Succeeded by | Richard Gorges Chase Price |
Member of Parliament for Monmouthshire | |
In office 1735–1747 Serving with Thomas Morgan | |
Preceded by | John Hanbury Thomas Morgan |
Succeeded by | William Morgan Capel Hanbury |
Personal details | |
Born | 8 December 1708 |
Died | 2 November 1759 | (aged 50)
Spouse |
Lady Frances Coningsby
(m. 1732) |
Relations | Sir Edward Ayscough (grandfather) |
Parent(s) | John Hanbury Bridget Ayscough Hanbury |
Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, KB (8 December 1708 – 2 November 1759) was a Welsh diplomat, writer and satirist. He was a Member of Parliament from 1734 until his death.
Early life
[edit]Hanbury was the son of a Welsh ironmaster and Member of Parliament, John Hanbury,[1] and his second wife, Bridget Ayscough, eldest daughter of Sir Edward Ayscough of Stallingborough and South Kelsey. With his father's marriage to Bridget came a fortune of £10,000 and connections with established political families. His mother was a close friend of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.
Charles went to Eton, where he befriended the novelist Henry Fielding.[1] In 1720, he assumed the name of Williams, under the terms of a bequest from his godfather, Charles Williams of Caerleon.
Career
[edit]Williams entered Parliament in 1734, representing the Monmouthshire constituency as a supporter of Robert Walpole, and held the seat until 1747. In 1754 he was returned to the commons as member for Leominster, holding the seat until his death.
From 1747 to 1750, Williams served as the British Ambassador in Dresden. In 1748 he had the same function in Poland and witnessed a Polish Sejm, where he met members of the influential Czartoryski family (August Aleksander Czartoryski). When the future King of Poland, Stanisław Poniatowski, was receiving medical treatment in Berlin, Sir Charles met him when sent there as Ambassador (1750–1751). He entered into Polish and Russian history in Saint Petersburg in 1755 by introducing Stanisław Poniatowski to the Russian Grand Duchess Catherine Alexeyevna (the future Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia), from which a famous romance developed between the Polish aristocrat and the wife of the Russian heir-apparent.
In 1739, Williams gave support for the establishment of the Foundling Hospital and served as one of its founding governors. Williams's father bought the Coldbrook Park estate near Abergavenny for him from his godfather's bequest. There he added a nine-bay, two-storey Georgian façade in 1746.
Seven Years' War
[edit]Williams played a major role as a British envoy (1752-1759) at the court in Russia during the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763. Although Russia went to war (1756-1762) against Britain's ally Prussia, Russia and Britain remained at peace.
Poet
[edit]Hanbury Williams became known as one of the prominent wits about town, and following in the tradition of Alexander Pope (1688-1744) he wrote a great deal of satirical light verse, including Isabella, or the Morning (1740), satires on Ruth Darlington and Pulleney (1741–1742), The Country Girl (1742), Lessons for the Day (1742), and Letter to Mr Dodsley (1743). Collections of his poems appeared in 1763 and of his Works in 1822.[1] Horace Walpole praised the wit of his poetry and wrote of his "biting satire".[2]
Personal life
[edit]On 1 July 1732, he married Lady Frances Coningsby (1707/8–1781) at St James, Westminster, London.[3] Lady Frances was a daughter of Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby and Lady Frances Jones (second daughter and sole heiress of Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh and the Hon. Frances Willoughby, a daughter and heiress of Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby).[4] Together, they had two daughters:
- Frances Hanbury-Williams (c. 1735–1759), who married William Capel, 4th Earl of Essex, the son of William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex and Lady Elizabeth Russell (a daughter of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford).[5]
- Charlotte Hanbury-Williams (1738–1790), who married Robert Boyle-Walsingham, the fifth and youngest son of Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon, in 1759. He was lost aboard HMS Thunderer in a West Indian hurricane.[6]
Charles Hanbury Williams died insane in 1759 and the Coldbrook estate passed to his brother George.[7] His widow died on 31 December 1781 and was buried at Westminster Abbey.
Descendants
[edit]Through his eldest daughter Frances, he was grandfather to Elizabeth Capel (wife of John Monson, 3rd Baron Monson) and George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex, who married Sarah Bazett, and after her death, Catherine Stephens).[5]
Through his second daughter Charlotte, he was grandfather to Richard Boyle-Walsingham (1762–1788), who died unmarried, and Charlotte Boyle-Walsingham, later suo jure Baroness de Ros, who married Lord Henry FitzGerald, fourth son of James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster and Lady Emily Lennox, Duchess of Leinster.[8]
Legacy
[edit]Williams inspired the character Charles Edaston in the 1913 George Bernard Shaw play Great Catherine, which recounts the story of a British envoy to Catherine's court. It was filmed starring Peter O'Toole in 1968. Williams also left poems said to be "witty but licentious".[9]
Sources
[edit]- ^ a b c Chisholm 1911.
- ^ Stewart, Mary Margaret. "Williams, Sir Charles Hanbury". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29488. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ The Register of Marriages in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster. 1723-1754. 1 July 1732.
- ^ "Coningsby, Earl of (GB, 1719 - 1761)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ a b "Essex, Earl of (E, 1661)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Shannon, Earl of (I, 1756)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ An Historical Tour in Monmouthshire, Volume 2. p. 279.
- ^ "de Ros, Baron (E, 1299)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Archived from the original on 16 November 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ Davenport, Richard Alfred (1831). A Dictionary of Biography p. 571. Chiswick Press. p. 571.
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hanbury Williams, Sir Charles". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 908. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons – via Wikisource.
Further reading
[edit]- David B. Horn, Sir Charles Hanbury Williams and European diplomacy, 1747–58, London et al. 1930: Harrap
External links
[edit]- 1708 births
- 1759 deaths
- British MPs 1734–1741
- British MPs 1741–1747
- British MPs 1754–1761
- Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath
- Lord-lieutenants of Herefordshire
- Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
- Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies
- Ambassadors of Great Britain to Russia
- Ambassadors of Great Britain to Poland