William à Court, 1st Baron Heytesbury (11 July 1779 – 31 May 1860), known as Sir William à Court, 2nd Baronet, from 1817 to 1828, was an English diplomat and Conservative politician.

Background and education

Heytesbury was the eldest son of Sir William Pierce Ashe à Court, 1st Baronet, and Laetitia, daughter of Henry Wyndham. He was educated at Eton and entered the Diplomatic Service at an early age.

Political and diplomatic career

In 1812 Heytesbury was elected to the House of Commons for Dorchester, a seat he held until 1814. He was also Envoy Extraordinary to the Barbary States from 1813 to 1814, to the Kingdom of Naples in 1814 and to Spain from 1822 to 1824 and served as Ambassador to Portugal between 1824 and 1828.

thumbnail|left|During 1820s in Russia

The latter year Heytesbury was appointed Ambassador to Russia, where he had to deal with the Russo-Turkish War of 1828 to 1829 and the tensions created by the Russian Empire's occupation of the Danubian Principalities. He remained in Russia until 1832. In 1835 Sir Robert Peel nominated him for the office of Governor-General of India, but the Tory government soon fell and he never took up the post. However, he later served under Peel as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland from 1844 to 1846, and presided over the beginning of the Great Famine (Ireland). Heytesbury succeeded his father as second Baronet in 1817, was admitted to the Privy Council the same year and made a GCB in 1819. In 1828 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Heytesbury, of Heytesbury in the County of Wiltshire.

Family

Lord Heytesbury married Maria Rebecca, daughter of the Hon. William Henry Bouverie and Bridget Douglas, on October 30, 1808 in St George's, Hanover Square. They had four sons and two daughters:

  1. Hon. William Henry Holmes à Court (1809-1891), who succeeded the titles and later became the 2nd Baron Heytesbury. He married Elizabeth Worsley-Holmes, daughter of Sir Leonard Thomas Worsley-Holmes, 9th Baronet, in 1833. The union created the Ashe à Court-Holmes (later changed to Holmes à Court) family name and lineage. They had ten sons and five daughters.
  2. Gertrude Laetitia Ashe à Court (1810-1816), born in London and died in childhood of scarlet fever.
  3. Hon. Cecilia Maria Daly (née Ashe à Court) (1811-1889), married Hon. Robert Daly, the fifth son of James Daly, 1st Baron Dunsandle and Clanconal, and with whom had three sons and three daughters. Robert Daly served as the Aide-de-Camp and State Steward to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
  4. Herbert Ashley Ashe à Court (born and died 1814), born in Naples and died in infancy.
  5. Arthur Edward Ashe à Court (1815-1816), born in Naples and died in infancy.
  6. Hon. Frederick Ashe à Court (1818-1840), born in Naples and died at the age of 22.

Arms

References

Sources

  • Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edn., (London, 2003)
  • Debrett's Peerage (London, 2002)