William Lyde Wiggett Chute (1800 – 6 July 1879) was an English landowner and barrister. He was High Sheriff of Norfolk and Conservative Party member of Parliament for West Norfolk. He inherited The Vyne estate in Hampshire and Pickenham Hall in Norfolk, and greatly improved the condition of The Vyne.
William Lyde Wiggett Chute | |
|---|---|
 William Lyde Wiggett Chute by Frederick Richard Say, oil on canvas, 1843, Vyne Estate, Hampshire[1] | |
| Born | William Lyde Wiggett 1800 |
| Died | 6 July 1879 (aged 78–79) The Vyne, Hampshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Landowner, barrister, member of Parliament |
Early life and family
editWilliam Lyde Wiggett was born in 1800,[1] the second son of the Reverend James Wiggett, rector of Crudwell, Wiltshire, and his wife Rachel. His mother was the daughter and heiress of Samuel Lyde of Ayott in Hampshire. Chute attended Winchester School and graduated from University College, Oxford, in 1821 with a bachelor's degree and received his master's degree in 1825. He was called to the bar at Middle Temple in 1827.[2][3]
He married Martha, daughter of Theophilus Russell Buckworth of Cockley, Cley Hall, Norfolk, in 1837.[2]
Career
editIn 1827, Wiggett inherited the estates of The Vyne[4] in Basingstoke, Hampshire, and Pickenham Hall in Norfolk, through the Reverend Thomas Vere Chute. Thereafter, by royal licence, he took the name and arms of Chute.[5] He served as High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1831 and was a justice of the peace.[2] Chute was the Conservative member of Parliament for West Norfolk from 1837 to 1847.[2]
He sold his Norfolk estate and lived at The Vyne from the death of Elizabeth Chute in 1842, widow of William Chute, until his death in 1879. During this time he greatly improved the estate, particularly the access routes which were known for their poor quality. Horace Walpole had described them in the eighteenth century as so bad that the house "must be approached upon stilts".[5] Chute's improvements were recorded in articles[6] that he wrote for the journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England.[5]
He was painted by society portraitist Frederick Richard Say in 1843. The painting is located at the Vyne Estate, Hampshire.[1] He was a member of The Athenæum.[7]
Chute was one of the members of the provisional committee of the Lynn and Ely Railway in 1844.[8]
Death and legacy
editChute died at The Vyne on 6 July 1879.[2] He was succeeded by his son Chaloner William Chute (born 1838), a barrister and fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c William Lyde Wiggett Chute (1800–1879). ArtUK. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- ^ a b c d e "Obituaries". Illustrated London News. No. 64098. 19 July 1879. p. 71. Retrieved 15 June 2018 – via Gale NewsVault.
- ^ Foster, Joseph (1885). Men-at-the-bar: A Biographical Hand-list of the Members of the Various Inns of Court, Including Her Majesty's Judges, Etc. Reeves and Turner. p. 86.
- ^ Woodcock, Thomas; Robinson, John Martin (2000). Heraldry in National Trust Houses. National Trust, Aylesbury. p. 181. ISBN 9780707802770.
- ^ a b c d Chute, Chaloner William (1888). A History of the Vyne in Hampshire: Being a Short Account of the Building & Antiquities of that House &c. Winchester: Jacob & Johnson. pp. 131–133.
- ^ "Farming in Hampshire", Vol. XLVIII.
- ^ Bateman, John (1878). The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland &c. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-108-07595-4. 2014 reprint.
- ^ The Athenæum. 11 May 1844. p. 43.