William Cornwallis-West

William Cornwallis Cornwallis-West VD JP (20 March 1835 – 4 July 1917), was a British politician.

The Honourable William Cornwallis-West VD JP
"Denbighshire". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1892.
Lord-Lieutenant of Denbighshire
In office 1872–1917
Preceded by	Robert Myddelton Biddulph
Succeeded by	The Lord Kenyon
Member of Parliament for Denbighshire West
In office 1885–1892
Preceded by	New constituency
Succeeded by	John Roberts
Personal details
Born	William Cornwallis West 20 March 1835 Florence
Died	4 July 1917 (aged 82) Ruthin Castle
Political party	Liberal Party; Liberal Unionist Party
Spouse(s)	Mary Fitzpatrick ​ ​ (m. 1872; his death 1917)​
Children	Daisy, Princess of Pless Constance Lewis George Cornwallis-West
Parents	Frederick Richard West Theresa Whitby
Relatives	Mary Anne Whitby (grandmother)
Residence	Ruthin Castle
Education	Eton

Early life

He was born William Cornwallis West. He was a son of Theresa John Cornwallis West (née Whitby) and Frederick Richard West, a Tory MP for Denbigh Boroughs and East Grinstead who was a member of the Canterbury Association. His father was first married to Lady Georgiana Stanhope (a daughter of Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl of Chesterfield).[1]

His paternal grandfather was the Hon. Frederick West (a younger son of John West, 2nd Earl De La Warr). His maternal grandparents were John Whitby and Mary Anne Theresa Symonds (heiress to the fortune of Admiral William Cornwallis).[2] He was called to the Bar, Lincoln's Inn, in 1862.[3]

Career

Cornwallis-West was High Sheriff of Denbighshire in 1872,[4] Lord-Lieutenant of Denbighshire from 1872 to 1917, and a Justice of the Peace for Hampshire and Denbighshire. In 1885 he was returned to Parliament for Denbighshire West, a seat he held until 1892.[5] He raised the 6th (Ruthin) Denbighshire Rifle Volunteer Corps in 1861 and became commanding officer of the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1885. In 1890 he became Honorary Colonel of the battalion and later of its successor, the 4th (Denbighshire) Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers in the Territorial Force.[6] In 1895 he assumed by deed poll the surname of Cornwallis-West. He lived at Ruthin Castle, Denbighshire, and at Newlands Manor, Milford, Hampshire.[7]

Personal life

Cornwallis-West married Mary ("Patsy"), daughter of Reverend Frederick Fitzpatrick, in 1872. Born in 1856, "Patsy" was 17 years old. She was known as a great beauty and leading socialite. They were the parents of:

• Daisy Cornwallis-West (1873–1943), who married Prince Hans Heinrich XV von Hochberg.
• George Cornwallis-West (1874–1951), who was the second husband of Lady Randolph Churchill (the American heiress formerly known as Jennie Jerome), mother of Winston Churchill. After their 1914 divorce, he married Mrs Patrick Campbell.[8]
• Constance Cornwallis-West (1875–1970), who married Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster. They divorced and she married her private secretary and agent, Captain John Fitzpatrick Lewis.[9]

Cornwallis-West died in July 1917, aged 82. His widow died in July 1920, shortly after returning from Monaco, in Arnewood House, a family property a few miles North of Newlands.

See also

• Earl De La Warr

Notes

1. Blain, Rev. Michael (2007). The Canterbury Association (1848-1852): A Study of Its Members' Connections (PDF). Christchurch: Project Canterbury. pp. 87–88. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
2. Theresa Cornwallis-West, nee Whitby, erected a memorial to the 6th Earl De La Warr (1815-1873); his death was otherwise not memorialized as he was a suicide. Understandably, speculation remains on the relationship between the unmarried earl and this heiress.
3. "William Cornwallis-West (1835-1917), Politician; MP for Denbighshire West". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
4. "No. 23825". The London Gazette. 6 February 1872. p. 404.
5. Parliament, Great Britain (1902). Members of Parliament: Return to an Address of the ... House of Commons, Dated 13 August 1901; - For, "Return of the Names of Every Member Returned to Serve in Each Parliament from the Year 1885 to the Dissolution of Parliament in the Year 1900, Specifying the Names of the County, City, University Or Place for which Returned (in Continuation of Parliamentary Paper No. 21 of Session 1887)". H.M. Stationery Office. p. 23. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
6. Army List.
7. Historical faces from Milford on Sea
8. MacColl, Gail; Wallace, Carol McD. (2012). To Marry an English Lord: Tales of Wealth and Marriage, Sex and Snobbery. New York: Workman Publishing. p. 364. ISBN 9780761171959. OCLC 883485021.
9. "Duchess of Westminster; a secret marriage". The Press. 23 January 1920. p. 6. Retrieved 24 October 2012.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
• Lundy, Darryl. "FAQ". The Peerage.
• Mary Cornwallis-West at the National Portrait Gallery

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by William Cornwallis-West
• Article on Mrs Cornwallis-West