Charles Hanbury Williams
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, KB (8 December 1708 – 2 November 1759), diplomat and satirist, son of John Hanbury, a Welsh ironmaster, assumed the name of Williams on succeeding to an estate.
He entered the British Parliament in 1734 representing the Monmouthshire constituency as a supporter of Robert Walpole, and held the seat until 1747. Sir Charles then won the seat of Leominster in 1754 which he held until his death.
In 1739 he supported the establishment of the Foundling Hospital and served as one of its founding governors.
From 1747 till 1750, he was the British ambasador in Dresden. In 1748 he was in Poland and withnessed a Polish Sejm - procedures , where he met members of the infuential Czartoryski family (August Aleksander Czartoryski). When the future King of Poland, Stanisław Poniatowski, was receiving medical treatment in Berlin, he met with Sir Charles, who was sent there as ambassador (1750-1751) Sir Charlesa. The Englishman became part of Polish and Russian history by introducing Stanisław to the Russian Grand Duchess Catherine Alexeyevna (Petersburg 1755) (the future Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia). From this moment on began the famous romance between Catherine and the Polish aristocrat.
Sir Charles is recorded as a brilliant wit with a great reputation for lively and biting satire.
[edit] Sources
This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.
 |
This article about a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
