William à Court, 1st Baron Heytesbury

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 a British diplomat and Conservative politician.

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. In 1812 he 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.

The latter year Heytesbury was appointed Ambassador to Russia, where he had to deal with the Russo-Turkish War of 1828 to 1829. 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. 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.

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

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Charles Henry Bouverie Robert Williams	Member of Parliament for Dorchester 2seat constituency (with Robert Williams) 1812–1814	Succeeded by Robert Williams Sir Samuel Shepherd
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by -	British Ambassador to Portugal 1824–1828	Succeeded by -
Preceded by The Viscount Strangford	British Ambassador to Russia 1828–1832	Succeeded by Sir Stratford Canning
Political offices
Preceded by The Earl de Grey	Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1844–1846	Succeeded by The Earl of Bessborough
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by New Creation	Baron Heytesbury	Succeeded by William à Court-Holmes
Baronetage of Great Britain
Preceded by William à Court	Baronet (of Heytesbury)	Succeeded by William à Court-Holmes

[edit] References

• Stephen, Sir Leslie; Lee, Sir Sidney (editors). The Dictionary of National Biography: Volume IX, Harris-Hovenden. Oxford University Press, 1917.
• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page
• www.thepeerage.com