GLEADOWE NEWCOMEN, Sir William, 1st Bt. (?1740-1807), of Killester, co. Dublin.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1801 - 1802

Family and Education

b. ?1740, s. of Thomas Gleadowe, banker, of Castle Street, Dublin by w. Teresa (d. 14 June 1788) née Workman. m. 17 Oct. 1772, Charlotte, da. and h. of Charles Newcomen, MP [I], of Carrickglass, co. Longford (she was cr. Baroness Newcomen [I] 31 July 1800 and Viscountess Newcomen [I] 11 Feb. 1803), 1s. 4da. suc. fa. 1766. Took additional name of Newcomen 1772; cr. Bt. 16 Nov. 1781.

Offices Held

MP [I] 1790-1800.

Trustee, linen board [I] 1802.

Capt. Carrickglass cav. 1796.

Biography

Gleadowe Newcomen, a partner in his father’s Dublin bank, married the heiress to an estate worth £7,000 p.a. in county Longford and represented it in the Irish parliament from 1790. In 1793 he was in opposition, but he afterwards rallied to government and to the Union, for which he was amply rewarded. His wife became a baroness, an honour for which he had asked the Duke of Portland in September 1795. He was given the patronage of the county, and according to Barrington was largely relieved of a debt to government, incurred as surety for Lord Mayo as receiver-general of the stamp duties: Lord Redesdale certainly described this relief as ‘the price of a Union vote’ when it came under scrutiny in 1804.1 Newcomen’s declaration for the Union ran counter to the opinion of his constituents’.

At Westminster he had not taken his seat by 25 Mar. 1801, but subsequently could be counted on to attend and support government. On 27 May 1801, in his only reported speech there, he gave his ‘hearty assent’ to the renewal of martial law in Ireland. He made way for his son at the general election of 1802 and the Irish government thereupon agreed to recommend that his wife should become a viscountess.2 Although his son was found unreliable by the Castle in 1803, Newcomen continued to be well thought of. The viceroy wrote, 30 Apr. 1804:

I have been long very anxious to get Sir W. Newcomen’s nephew or natural son, Lieut. Gleadowe of the 16th dragoons, promoted to a troop ... I sincerely wish it could be done, for Sir William is a very worthy and honourable man and a steady friend of government.3

Gleadowe Newcomen died 21 Aug. 1807, aged 66. No confirmation has been found of a statement in his obituary that he was (by 1800) an Irish privy councillor.4

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: Arthur Aspinall

Notes

  • 1. Portland mss PwF7161; J. Barrington, Hist. Anecs. of Legislative Union, ii. 359; Glos. RO, Redesdale mss C8, Redesdale to Perceval, 5 Nov. 1804.
  • 2. Add. 35708, ff. 51, 73; Wickham mss 5/7, Wickham to Gleadowe Newcomen, 29 Sept. 1802.
  • 3. Add. 35705, f. 302.
  • 4. Jnl. of Assoc. for the preservation of the memorials of the dead in Ireland, vii. 561; Gent. Mag. (1807), ii. 890.