William Pulteney, Viscount Pulteney

For other people named William Pulteney, see William Pulteney (disambiguation).

William Pulteney, Viscount Pulteney, 1761 portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds
Arms of Pulteney: Argent, a fess dancettée gules in chief three leopard's faces sable

William Pulteney, Viscount Pulteney (9 January 1731 – 12 February 1763)[1] was a British Whig politician and soldier.

Early life

He was the only son of William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath and his wife Anna Maria Gumley, daughter of John Gumley.[2] Pulteney was educated at Westminster School from 1740 to 1747 and began his Grand Tour in the following year.[2] He traveled with John Douglas first to Leipzig, met his parents in Paris in 1749 and went then to Turin.[2]

Career

In 1754, he entered the British House of Commons, sitting for Old Sarum until 1761.[3] Subsequently, he represented Westminster as Member of Parliament (MP) until his death in 1763.[1] Pulteney was appointed Lord of the Bedchamber in 1760[2] and served as Aide-de-Camp to King George III of the United Kingdom between January and February 1763.[citation needed]

In 1759, his father raised the 85th Regiment of Foot and Pulteney became its lieutenant-colonel.[2] He took part with his regiment in the Capture of Belle Île in February 1761 and moved in November to Portugal.[2] On his return to England in 1763, he died of fever in Madrid, unmarried and childless[4] and was buried in Westminster Abbey two months later.[citation needed] His father died only a year later and the titles became extinct.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "Leigh Rayment - British House of Commons, Westminster". Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ a b c d e f Sir Lewis Namier, John Brooke, ed. (2002). The House of Commons, 1754-1790. Vol. I. London: Secker & Warburg. pp. 339–340.
  3. ^ "Leigh Rayment - British House of Commons, Old Sarum". Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ Conolly, Matthew Forster (1866). Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Men of Fife of Past and Present Times. Cupa, Fife: John C. Orr. pp. 148.
  5. ^ Burke, John (1831). A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerages of England, Ireland, and Scotland. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley. p. 442.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Old Sarum
1754 – 1761
With: Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc 1754–1756
Sir William Calvert 1756–1761 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Westminster
1761 – 1763
With: Edward Cornwallis 1761–1762
Edwin Sandys 1762–1763 		Succeeded by
Political offices
New office Lord of the Bedchamber
1760 – 1763 		Succeeded by