William Copeland Borlase
Photograph of Borlase, c. 1880
Member of Parliament for St Austell
In office 1885–1887
Preceded by	New constituency
Succeeded by	William Alexander McArthur
Member of Parliament for East Cornwall
In office 1880–1885
Preceded by	Sir Colman Rashleigh John Tremayne
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	(1848-04-05)5 April 1848 Castle Horneck, Penzance, Cornwall
Died	31 March 1899(1899-03-31) (aged 50) Bloomsbury, London
Resting place	Highgate Cemetery (east)
Nationality	British
Spouse	Alice Lucy Kent
Parent(s)	Samuel Borlase Mary Anne Copeland Borlase
Relatives	William Borlase
Residence(s)	Laregan, Penzance
Alma mater	Winchester College Trinity College, Oxford
Occupation	Antiquarian and politician

William Copeland Borlase FSA (5 April 1848 – 31 March 1899) was a British antiquarian and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 until 1887 when he was ruined by bankruptcy and scandal.

Early life

Borlase was born at Castle Horneck, near Penzance in Cornwall, England, the only son of Samuel Borlase and his wife Mary Anne (née Copeland) Borlase (d. 1882), daughter of William Copeland of Chigwell, Essex.^[1]

A member of a wealthy Cornish family, Borlase's early life was much influenced by the archaeological work of his great-great-grandfather, Dr. William Borlase the Cornish historian. Young Borlase visited many of the ancient sites in Cornwall and in 1863 and supervised the excavations of the re-discovered prehistoric settlement and fogou at Carn Euny. Although Borlase produced many sketches he commissioned fellow Cornish antiquarian John Thomas Blight to do the engravings for the report.

Borlase was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Oxford.^[2]

Career

He was called to the bar at Inner Temple in 1882 and was JP for Cornwall and a Deputy Warden of the Stannaries of Cornwall and Devon.^[3]

In the 1880 general election, Borlase was elected Liberal Member of Parliament for East Cornwall, until the seat was divided in the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. In the 1885 general election, he was elected MP for St Austell.^[4] In 1886, he was made Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board. However he took to fine living. His Portuguese mistress exposed his debts and the scandal brought him ruin and bankruptcy.^[5]

He resigned his seat in the House of Commons on 29 April 1887 and his house at Laregan was put up for auction on 17 May 1887.^[6][7] He left England to work in Ireland as a remittance man and also went on to manage tin mines in Spain and Portugal. The rest of the family disowned him and he died aged 50. His address when he died was 34, Bedford Court Mansions, Bloomsbury, in London.^[8]

Works

Death

Borlase died on 31 March 1899 and was buried in the east side of Highgate Cemetery.