HOLBECH, William (1748-1812), of Farnborough Hall, Warws.

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

Constituency

Dates

5 Mar. 1794 - 1796

Family and Education

b. 1748, 1st s. of Hugh Holbech of Whitley Hall by Catherine, da. and h. of Col. Robert Cornewall. educ. Rugby 1757; Eton 1761-6; Trinity, Oxf. 1766-70. m. 20 Oct. 1772, Anne, da. of William Woodhouse, MD, of Lichfield, Staffs., 5s. 2da. suc. fa. 1765; uncle William Holbech to estates of Farnborough, Warws., Mollington, Oxon and Radston, Northants. 1771.

Offices Held

Sheriff, Warws. 1774-5; capt. Edgehill yeomanry 1798; capt. Warws. militia 1798, maj. 1803.

Biography

At the age of 23, Holbech succeeded his father’s elder brother to his grandfather’s estate on the borders of Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire. In 1780 he was proposed for Warwickshire in the county election, but would not face a contest. In 1784 he contested Warwick borough unsuccessfully on the interest of the 2nd Earl of Warwick. He was returned for Lord Guilford’s family borough of Banbury, near his seat at Farnborough, on a vacancy in 1794. This return had been proposed, however, by some Banbury electors eager to be represented by ‘any gentleman of the neighbourhood’, and agreed to, against his own wishes, by Lord Guilford, who had in mind one of his fellow Whigs William Adam*.

Holbech did not vote against administration, nor is any speech reported. In 1796 Guilford resumed control of Banbury and Holbech was left without a seat. He died 6 July 1812, ‘in his 64th year’, appointing William Mills* one of the guardians of his children and adding, by a codicil (30 Mar. 1812), £1,000 to his bequests to each of them, since in the intervening nine years ‘the value of money is much decreased’.

Mordaunt mss, Sir J. Mordaunt to his wife, 8 Mar. 1794; Gent. Mag. (1812), ii. 91; PCC 380 Oxford.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: R. G. Thorne

Notes