Charles Hanbury Williams
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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 the estate of his godfather Charles Williams, in 1720.
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 ambassador in Dresden. In 1748 he was 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, he met with Sir Charles, who was sent there as ambassador (1750–1751). The Englishman became part of Polish and Russian history by introducing Stanisław to the Russian Grand Duchess Catherine Alexeyevna (Saint 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.
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Hanbury Thomas Morgan |
Member of Parliament for Monmouthshire with Thomas Morgan 1735–1747 |
Succeeded by William Morgan Capel Hanbury |
| Preceded by Robert de Cornwall James Peachey |
Member of Parliament for Leominster with Richard Gorges 1754–1759 |
Succeeded by Richard Gorges Chase Price |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by The Duke of Chandos |
Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire 1741–1747 |
Succeeded by The Viscount Bateman |
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