Sir William Keyt, 3rd Baronet (8 July 1688 –1741) of Norton House, Gloucestershire, was a British 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. ...

from 1722 to 1735. He died at his house in a catastrophic fire of his own creation and the garden which remained, and was restored, gave rise to the poem ''Burnt Norton'' by

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

Early life

Keyt was the eldest son of William Keyt of

Ebrington Ebrington (known locally as Yabberton or Yubberton) is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, about from Chipping Campden. It has narrow lanes and tiny streets of Cotswold stone houses and cottages, many of which are thatched. ...

, Gloucestershire, and his wife Agnes Clopton, daughter of Sir John Clopton of Clopton, Warwickshire. He was educated privately. He succeeded his grandfather in the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

on 30 November 1702. He married Anne Tracy, daughter of

William Tracy, 4th Viscount Tracy 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 ...

, of Rathcoole on 23 November 1710.

Career

Keyt became

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

of Stratford-on-Avon in 1709 and held the post for the rest of his life. He was a leading Jacobite in Warwickshire and in 1715 he was taken off the commission of the peace because he proclaimed the Pretender. He was elected Tory

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 of ...

for

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

at a by-election on 22 November 1722 which was at great expense to both sides. In Parliament, he consistently voted against the Government. A local Whig wrote of him that he was 'a Tory indeed; barring that I hear a mighty good character of him in all respects'. He was returned unopposed at the 1727 general election. At the 1734 general election, there was a contest at Warwick in which he was successful in the poll, but unseated on petition on 25 February 1735.

Death and legacy

In 1716 Keyt acquired Norton House near

Chipping Campden Chipping Campden is a market town in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It is notable for its terraced High Street, dating from the 14th century to the 17th century. ("Chipping" is from Old English ''cēping'', 'market', 'market- ...

. He built a mansion on an adjacent site and laid out a garden at the same time. It had a large parterre, terraces and plantations with walks. He left his wife for her maid, and went to live at Norton with her. When she saw his house, she asked ‘what is a kite without wings’, and so he extended it with two large side extensions. In time she deserted him, and he began drinking heavily. One night in September 1741 he caused a fire which spread to the whole house. Unsuccessful attempts were made to rescue him and little was left of him to be buried at the church of

Aston-sub-Edge Aston Subedge (also written Aston-sub-Edge) is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, close by the border with Worcestershire (to the west). According to the 2001 census the population was 55, increasing ...

. It was said he was deranged and set the fire deliberately. It was also proposed that he started the fire after a bout of heavy drinking. Keyt left children * Thomas Charles Keyt (1712-1755) who succeeded to the baronetcy as 4th Baronet * John Keyt, an officer in the army * William Keyt who died young * Robert Keyt (1714-1784) who succeeded to the baronetcy as 5th Baronet and died without issue * Agnes who married Edward Gibbes and had three daughters The estate became known as Burnt Norton and the garden remained as an attraction. It was after visiting the garden that

wrote ''

Burnt Norton ''Burnt Norton'' is the first poem of T. S. Eliot's ''Four Quartets''. He created it while working on his play '' Murder in the Cathedral'', and it was first published in his ''Collected Poems 1909–1935'' (1936). The poem's title refers to ...

'' the first of his ''

Four Quartets ''Four Quartets'' is a set of four poems written by T. S. Eliot that were published over a six-year period. The first poem, ''Burnt Norton'', was published with a collection of his early works (1936's ''Collected Poems 1909–1935''). After a f ...

''. Keyt's story is the basis for the historical novel ''Burnt Norton'' by Caroline Sandon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keyt, Sir William, 3rd Baronet 1688 births 1741 deaths British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Baronets in the Baronetage of England Suicides by self-immolation 18th-century suicides Suicides in England