William Windham ( – 2 April 1730), of Earsham,

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

, was a British Army officer, landowner and politician who sat 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 ...

from 1722 to 1730. Felbrigg Hall Windham was the second son of William Windham, of

Felbrigg Hall Felbrigg Hall is a 17th-century English country house near the village of that name in Norfolk. Part of a National Trust property, the unaltered 17th-century house is noted for its Jacobean architecture and fine Georgian interior. Outside i ...

(died 1689) and his wife Catherine Ashe, daughter of Sir Joseph Ashe, 1st Baronet, MP, merchant of Twickenham. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

in about 1685. Windham entered the army and was a Cornet in the

6th Dragoon Guards The Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1685 as the Lord Lumley's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as His Majesty's 1st Regiment of Carabiniers in 1740, the 3rd Regiment of Horse (Carabi ...

in 1698 and Captain in 1702, serving under the Duke of Marlborough. At the

Battle of Blenheim The Battle of Blenheim (german: Zweite Schlacht bei Höchstädt, link=no; french: Bataille de Höchstädt, link=no; nl, Slag bij Blenheim, link=no) fought on , was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. The overwhelming Allied ...

in 1704, he lost a leg. In September 1705, he married Anne Tyrrell, daughter of Sir Charles Tyrrell, 2nd Baronet. He became a lieutenant-colonel in 1706 and by 1712 he was in the reserve. In 1720, he bought an estate at Earsham, including Earsham Hall out of the profits he made from the

South Sea bubble South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

. Earsham Hall At the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Th ...

, Windham was returned as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal el ...

. He obtained a place as Lieutenant-governor of

Chelsea Hospital The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse, the ancient sense of the word "hospital", it is a site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea. It is an in ...

in 1726 and his salary was increased from £200 to £400 'in view of his sufferings in the service'. At the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trig ...

he transferred to

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the international Ald ...

where he was returned as MP on the Treasury interest. Windham died on 22 April 1730, leaving two sons

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, MP, and John, later John Windham-Bowyer, and a daughter Catharine, who eloped with the son of the Apothecary in Bungay.About Earsham Hall
/ref> There are family memorials in All Saints Church, Earsham.

External links

National Trust Collections Colonel William Windham of Earsham (1674-1730)
by

Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to English and British monarchs from ...

References

1670s births 1730 deaths Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies People educated at Eton College English amputees British Army personnel of the War of the Spanish Succession British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub