Wadham Wyndham (1793-1849) DL JP was the eldest son of Colonel Wadham Wyndham and a politically influential figure in the county of Buckinghamshire in the first half of the 19th century.[1]
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Inheriting a considerable fortune from his father in 1813,[2] including Buckinghamshire property originally owned by George Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe of Hellfire Club fame, Wadham acquired Beech Lodge near Great Marlow to concentrate on supporting the political ambitions and career of his friend and cousin Richard Plantagenet Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, known from 1822-1839 by the courtesy title of Marquess of Chandos. Chandos became MP for Buckinghamshire in 1818 and remained MP until succeeding to the dukedom in 1839.
He was a constant and vigorous supporter of the Marquess of Chandos throughout his time as MP and later Lord Privy Seal until Chandos retired from government in 1842. He is particularly remembered for organising a series of large and successful political dinners,[3] a familiar feature of early 19th century politics, during Chandos's long and not entirely popular opposition to the repeal of the Corn Laws [4]
Wadham's rewards for unwavering political loyalty were in customary currency of the time; for example he was made a Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire during the time Chandos was Lord Lieutenant of the county, and made Captain of the 2nd Bucks Regiment of Yeomanry when Chandos, as 2nd Duke of Buckingham, became its Colonel in 1839.[3]
He married Anne Stanley,[5] daughter of the Rev Edward Stanley of Dublin, and had eight children including Colonel Arthur Wyndham of the fifth regiment of Native Infantry of the Honourable East India Company[6] and Florance Wyndham inventor of Esprit des Oeufs, or Egg Spirit as he often referred to it,[7] a commercial bottling of a kind of eggnog which achieved great popularity and a global distribution in the second half of the 19th century.
Two sons (William and Alexander) moved to Australia in the 1850s; William died in an accident on Christmas Day 1858 but through Alexander (d.1915) Wadham Wyndham's Australian descendants include prominent educator Sir Harold Wyndham, musician Claire Wyndham, acclaimed surgeons, academics and successful business people.
The Duke of Buckingham stood Godfather to Wadham's second son Chandos,[8] born in 1828, though the child did not survive into adulthood. Wadham Wyndham died from bronchitis with asthma in 1849.[9]