William Edwardes, 1st Baron Kensington

William Edwardes, 1st Baron Kensington (c. 1711 – 13 December 1801) of Johnston Hall, Pembrokeshire, was a British landowner and a long-standing Member of Parliament.

William Edwardes, 1st Baron Kensington
Member of Parliament for Haverfordwest
In office
1747-1784
1786-1800
1800-1801
Personal details
Bornc. 1711 (1711)
Died13 December 1801 (aged 89–90)
Spouse(s)Rachel Edwardes (d. 1760)
Elizabeth Warren
(m. 1762)
Children1+, including William
Parent

Biography

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Johnston Hall, Pembrokeshire

Edwardes was the second surviving son of Francis Edwardes, Member of Parliament for Haverfordwest, and Lady Elizabeth Rich, only daughter of Robert Rich, 5th Earl of Warwick and heiress of her nephew Edward Henry Rich, 7th Earl of Warwick. The Edwardes family owned extensive lands in Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire and on the death of his cousin the 7th Earl in 1721 and his elder brother in 1738, William inherited the additional estates of the Rich family, which included Holland House in Kensington. In 1776 he was created Baron Kensington in the Peerage of Ireland. This was a revival of the barony held by the Earls of Warwick and Holland which had become extinct on the death of the eighth and last Earl in 1759.[citation needed]

Edwardes was elected to his father's old seat of Haverfordwest in 1747, a seat he held until 1801, with a brief exception between 1784 and 1786. His tenure as member for Haverfordwest was based on an arrangement with Lord Milford, the member for the Pembrokeshire county constituency, whose family treated Haverfordwest like a pocket borough.[1]

Lord Kensington died in 1801. He had firstly married his cousin Rachel, the daughter of Owen Edwardes of Trefgarn but after her death in 1760 he had married Elizabeth Warren in 1762. He was succeeded in the barony by their only son William, who also succeeded him as member of parliament for Haverfordwest. Lady Kensington died in November 1814.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ Williams 1960, p. 40.

Sources

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  • "EDWARDES, William (c.1712-1801), of Johnston, Pemb". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  • Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, [page needed]

Sources

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Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Haverfordwest
1747–1784
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Haverfordwest
1786–1800
Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Parliament of Great Britain
Member of Parliament for Haverfordwest
1800–1801
Succeeded by
Peerage of Ireland
New creation Baron Kensington
1776–1801
Succeeded by