William Weddell

William Weddell by Pompeo Batoni

William Weddell (13 May 1736 – 30 April 1792) was a British landowner and politician.

He was the son of Richard Elcock, who had adopted the additional surname of Weddell, of Newby Hall, North Yorkshire, and was educated at Dr. Newcome's Academy in Hackney, and later at St. John’s College, Cambridge (1753). He trained as a lawyer at Gray's Inn, London (1753). His great-uncle Thomas Weddell of Earswick was Paymaster to the Navy and had made a fortune by speculating in the South Sea Bubble. He paid for William's education and when he died left his considerable fortune to Richard Elcock on condition that he and William changed their names to Weddell. Richard bought Newby Hall in 1748, which William Weddell inherited in 1762 (his elder brother having died), whilst on the Grand Tour. ^[1]

William was then in a position to start what became a renowned collection of classical antiquities, including the Barberini Venus, which sold in 2002 for £8 million. He also upgraded and extended Newby Hall to house his collection.

He was elected Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Kingston-upon-Hull in 1766, sitting until 1774. He was elected for Malton in 1775, serving until 1784, and again in 1784, serving until 1792. ^[2]

He married Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir John Ramsden, 3rd Baronet and half-sister of Lady Rockingham. There is an unusual monument to his memory in Ripon Cathedral, consisting of a representation of a Greek temple, with a bust of an aristocratic man on a pedestal in the centre. ^[1] He had no surviving children, and left Newby Hall to his cousin Thomas Philip Robinson, Lord Grantham, later the 2nd Earl de Grey.

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