Walter Spencer-Stanhope (4 February 1749 – 10 April 1822), of Horsforth and Leeds, Yorkshire, was a British politician and industrialist whose family fortune had been made through the iron trade.
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Spencer-Stanhope was educated at Bradford Grammar School and went up to University College, Oxford, and later studied law at the Middle Temple, London. In 1775 Stanhope inherited Cannon Hall from his uncle, John Spencer, and changed his name from Stanhope to Spencer-Stanhope by Royal license.
Spencer-Stanhope was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Carlisle in 1775,[1] Haslemere in 1780,[2] Hull, Yorkshire in 1784,[3] for Cockermouth in 1800,[4] and for Carlisle, Cumberland in 1802.[1] He was a close supporter of William Pitt the Younger and friend of William Wilberforce, the anti-slavery campaigner, after meeting whom he became a religious philanthropist.
As well as their interests in establishing the cotton industry in the late seventeenth century the Spencer family were largely responsible for establishing the charcoal iron industry in the area between Leeds and Sheffield for the next 120 years.
Spencer-Stanhope married Mary Winifred, daughter of Thomas Babington Pulleine, in 1783. Their son John Spencer-Stanhope was a Fellow of the Royal Society and the father of Walter Spencer-Stanhope and John Roddam Spencer Stanhope. Spencer-Stanhope died in April 1822, aged 73. His wife died in December 1850.
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Fletcher Norton Anthony Morris Storer |
Member of Parliament for Carlisle 1775–1780 With: Anthony Morris Storer |
Succeeded by The Earl of Surrey William Lowther |
| Preceded by Sir James Lowther Edward Norton |
Member of Parliament for Haslemere 1780–1784 With: Hon. Edward Norton |
Succeeded by Thomas Postlethwaite John Baynes-Garforth |
| Preceded by William Wilberforce Samuel Thornton |
Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull 1784–1790 With: Samuel Thornton |
Succeeded by Samuel Thornton Earl of Burford |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Edward Burrow John Baynes Garforth |
Member of Parliament for Cockermouth Dec 1800–1802 With: John Baynes Garforth |
Succeeded by Robert Plumer Ward James Graham |
| Preceded by John Christian Curwen Sir Frederick Fletcher-Vane, Bt |
Member of Parliament for Carlisle 1802–1812 With: John Christian Curwen |
Succeeded by Sir James Graham, Bt Henry Fawcett |