William Killigrew Wait

William Killigrew Wait (26 December 1826[2] – 13 December 1902[3]) was a British politician and merchant in Bristol.

William Killigrew Wait as Mayor of Bristol, oil on canvas, 1869.[1]

Wait was born in 1826, the son of W. K. Wait, an Alderman and Sheriff of Bristol. He was educated at Bristol College and worked as a grain merchant. He first became a town councillor at the age of 41 in 1867, and was appointed Mayor of Bristol in 1869. He became an Alderman in the city in 1886 but resigned in 1891.[4] He was prominent in the movement which led to the building of a nave at the Cathedral in Bristol, and active in local causes throughout his life.[5]

Wait was the Conservative Party member of Parliament for Gloucester elected in the 1873 Gloucester by-election. His opponent was Thomas Robinson of the Liberal Party who was subsequently elected in 1880. The 1873 by-election was marred by accusations of corruption but an enquiry by the Electoral Commission upheld Wait's victory.[6]

Wait was converted to the cause of women's suffrage by the forced resignation of Eliza Walker Dunbar from the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.[4]

He married a daughter of John Perrin. His daughter Frances Katharine Wait married Charles Chadwyck-Healey on 17 May 1884.

Wait died at his residence St Vincent´s Hall, Clifton, on 13 December 1902.[5]

References

edit
  1. ^ "William Killigrew Wait, Mayor of Bristol (1869)". Art UK. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  2. ^ Mair, Robert Henry (1876). Debrett's Illustrated House of Commons and the Judicial Bench. Dean & Son. p. 245.
  3. ^ Index to Death Duty Registers Transcription. Retrieved 3 June 2016. (subscription required)
  4. ^ a b "William Killigrew Wait - 1826-1902 (Mayor 1869)". Bristol Mayors & Sheriffs. Mayors & Sheriffs of Bristol. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Obituary - William Killigrew Wait". The Times. No. 36951. London. 15 December 1902. p. 6.
  6. ^ Evans, Jill (September 2013). Gloucester Murder & Crime. ISBN 9780750951470.