William Dowdeswell PC (12 March 17216 February 1775) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who was a leader of the Rockingham Whig faction.

Background and education

A son of William Dowdeswell of Pull Court,

Bushley Bushley is a small village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills district in Worcestershire, England. The church is dedicated to Saint Peter. Bredon School is located to the north of the village. History William Dowdeswell (1721–1775), the ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

, he was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

, at Christ Church, Oxford, then at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

. One of his fellow students was Baron d'Holbach. He spent the summer of 1746 with him at the uncle´s Messire François-Adam, Baron d’Holbach, Seigneur de Heeze, Leende et autres Lieux (ca. 1675–1753) estate

Heeze-Leende Heeze-Leende () is a municipality in the southern Netherlands, near Eindhoven. It is known for Heeze Castle (''Kasteel Heeze''). The spoken language is "Heeze-en-Leendes", a distinct dialect within the East Brabantian dialect group and is very si ...

Political career

Dowdeswell became member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

for the family borough of

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Ri ...

in 1747, retaining this seat until 1754, and from 1761 until his death he was one of the representatives of

. Becoming prominent among the Whigs, Dowdeswell was made Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1765 under the

Marquess of Rockingham Marquess of Rockingham, in the County of Northampton, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1746 for Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Earl of Malton. The Watson family descended from Lewis Watson, Member of Parliament f ...

, and his short tenure of this position appears to have been a successful one, he being in Lecky's words a good financier, but nothing more. To general astonishment, he refused to abandon his friends and to take office under Chatham, who succeeded Rockingham in August 1766. Dowdeswell then led the Rockingham party in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

, taking an active part in debate until his death. In 1774 during the Parliamentary debate of the Boston Port Act he warned the act will "soon inflame all America, and stir up a contention you will not be able to pacify and quiet".

Family and death

Dowdeswell married Bridget, daughter of

Sir William Codrington, 1st Baronet Sir William Codrington, 1st Baronet (died 1738), of Dodington Park, Gloucestershire, was a British landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1737 to 1738. Codrington was the eldest son of John Codrington of Barbados and his w ...

, in 1747. The couple are believed to have had as many as 15 children, including Charles William Dowdeswell (b. 8 June 1756). Dowdeswell went abroad to recover his health in 1774 but died the next February in Nice.Jeremy Black, "The British and the Grand Tour", (1985), p. 128 The highly eulogistic epitaph on his monument at Bushley was written by

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowdeswell, William Chancellors of the Exchequer of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Worcestershire People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford People from Malvern Hills District 1721 births 1775 deaths British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780