Sir William Scawen (c. 1644 – 18 October 1722) was a British MP and Governor of the Bank of England.

Early life

Scawen was born in 1644. His father was

Robert Scawen Robert Scawen (c. May 1602–1670) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1670. He supported the Roundheads, Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War. Scawen ...

of Horton, Buckinghamshire.

Career

Scawen was knighted in 1692. After some years in business he was appointed a Director of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

in 1694 and again from 1699 until his death. He was elevated to Deputy Governor in 1695 and to

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

in 1697 (until 1699). He was also a Director of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

from 1710 to 1712. In 1696 he had sufficient wealth to purchase a half interest in

Carshalton Carshalton ( ) is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated around southwest of Charing Cross and around east by north of Sutton town centre, in the valley of the Rive ...

manor. Scawen entered Parliament as the MP for New Windsor in 1693, sitting until 1698, when he was again returned as the MP for

Grampound Grampound () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Grampound with Creed, in the Cornwall (district), Cornwall district, in the ceremonial county of Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and ...

in 1698 and twice in 1701 (being in December 1701 also elected for

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

). This was followed by two terms as MP for

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

from 1705 to 1710 and from 1721 to 1722.

Personal life

Scawen married Mary, the daughter of Sir William Maynard, 1st Baronet of Walthamstow, Essex but had no legitimate children. He left the Horton estate to his brother Thomas and the rest of his considerable estates in Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Yorkshire, Cornwall and Ireland to his nephew Thomas, Thomas's son.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scawen, William British merchants Year of birth unknown 1722 deaths Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1715–1722 Governors of the Bank of England Year of birth uncertain English MPs 1705–1707 Deputy governors of the Bank of England