William Christie (Conservative politician)
William Langham Christie (31 May 1830 – 28 November 1913)[1] of Glyndebourne, Sussex, and Tapeley, North Devon, was a British Conservative Party politician.
He was the son of Langham Christie, who had inherited Glyndebourne, the Sussex country house now famous for its music festival, after paying off a rival family claimant. William succeeded his father in 1861.
During the 1870s he made substantial alterations to Glyndebourne, adding a brick extension, ornate stonework and balustrading. In 1876 he engaged architect Ewan Christian to install bay windows and add decorative brickwork to give the house its current Jacobean appearance.[2]
He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewes at the 1874 general election, having unsuccessfully contested the seat in 1865 and 1868.[3] He was the first Conservative MP to represent Lewes in the House of Commons since Henry Fitzroy had died in 1860. Christie was re-elected in 1880, and retired from Parliament at the 1885 general election.[3]
Family
He married in 1855 Agnes Hamilton Clevland, who was heir to Tapeley Park in Devon, which the couple rebuilt with a "severe brick facade".
Their children were Augustus Langham Christie and Agnes Chichester Dixon-Hartland. Glyndebourne and Tapeley passed to John Christie, the son of Augustus Langham.
References
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
- "Glyndebourne". Openbuildings. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 184. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by William Christie
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lord Pelham |
Member of Parliament for Lewes 1874–1885 |
Succeeded by Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, Bt |