William Manning (1 December 1763 – 17 April 1835) was a British merchant, politician, and Governor of the Bank of England.[1]

Biography

Manning was the son of West India merchant William Coventry Manning and Elizabeth Ryan.[2] Manning's sister Martha married American Revolutionary War patriot John Laurens.[3]

Manning joined his father's firm, taking control after his father's death in 1791. He was elected a Director of the Bank of England from 1792 to 1831 and its Governor between 1812 and 1814, having served as its Deputy Governor from 1810 to 1812.

He worked as a merchant in the West Indies, acting as agent for St Vincent (1792-1806) and for Grenada (1825-1831). He also invested in the Australian Agricultural Company, becoming its Deputy Governor in 1826, and was president of the London Life Assurance from 1817 to 1830.[4] The Manning River in New South Wales, Australia was named in his honour.

Around the same time, he and several other merchants lobbied Secretary for Colonies William Huskisson for exclusive trading rights with New Zealand.[5] A "William Mannings" is listed as a director of the New Zealand Company in 1825, a venture chaired by the wealthy John George Lambton, Whig MP (and later 1st Earl of Durham), that made the first attempt to colonise New Zealand.[6][7][8]

Between 1794 and 1830 he served almost continuously as a Member of Parliament in turn for Evesham, Lymington and Penryn.[1] He was a prominent slave owner and member of the West India Committee. He was active politically trying to prevent the abolition of slavery.[9]

Personal life

Copped Hall, Hertfordshire

He married twice; firstly Elizabeth, daughter of banker Abel Smith of Nottingham, with whom he had 2 daughters and secondly Mary, daughter of barrister Henry Lannoy Hunter of Beech Hill, Reading, Berkshire with whom he had 4 sons and 4 daughters.

He inherited Copped Hall, Totteridge, Hertfordshire, where his second wife Mary Hunter re-designed the grounds, probably with the advice of Humphry Repton, damming the Folly Brook to create the ornamental Darland's Lake.[10]

Combe Bank

After the death of Lord Frederick Campbell in 1816, he bought Combe Bank near Sevenoaks, Kent from Campbell's daughter. However, he got into financial difficulties in the 1820s and had to declare himself bankrupt in 1831. He was forced to resign from the Bank of England, sell his estates and move to a smaller property in Gower Street, London.

William Manning died at Gower Street in 1835 and was buried at Sundridge, Kent.

One son, Henry Manning,[11] was ordained as an Anglican clergyman and became a leader of the Oxford Movement, later converting to Catholicism and becoming the Archbishop of Westminster in 1865.

Notes

  1. ^ a b "MANNING, William (1763-1835), of Copped Hall, Totteridge, Herts. and Coombe Bank, nr. Sevenoaks, Kent". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  2. ^ The History of Chislehurst: Its Church, Manors, and Parish, 1899, page 223
  3. ^ Wallace, David Duncan. The Life of Henry Laurens: With a Sketch of the Life of Lieutenant-Colonel John Laurens. Putnam, 1915, page 466
  4. ^ "William Manning - Profile & Legacies Summary". UCL. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  5. ^ "MANNING, William (1763-1835), of Coombe Bank, nr. Sevenoaks, Kent". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  6. ^ Adams, Peter (2013). Fatal Necessity: British Intervention in New Zealand, 1830–1847. BWB e-Book. Bridget Williams Books. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-927277-19-5. Retrieved 9 December 2020. ...first published in 1977.
  7. ^ McDonnell, Hilda (2002). "Chapter 3: The New Zealand Company of 1825". The Rosanna Settlers: with Captain Herd on the coast of New Zealand 1826-7. Retrieved 9 December 2020. including Thomas Shepherd's Journal and his coastal views, The NZ Company of 1825. ((cite book)): |website= ignored (help)
  8. ^ Wakefield, Edward Jerningham (1845). Adventure in New Zealand, from 1839 to 1844: With Some Account of the Beginning of the British Colonization of the Islands. John Murray. p. 4. Retrieved 9 December 2020. Digitised 22 July 2009
  9. ^ "William Manning Profile & Legacies Summary". www.ucl.ac.uk. Legacies of British Slavery UCL. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  10. ^ Darland's Lake Nature Reserve, London Gardens Online
  11. ^ Henry Edward Manning, Catholic Encyclopedia

References

External links

Parliament of Great Britain Preceded byThe Earl of CarhamptonPhilip Metcalfe Member of Parliament for Plympton Erle 1794–1796 With: Philip Metcalfe Succeeded byWilliam AdamsWilliam Mitchell Preceded bySir Harry Burrard-Neale, BtNathaniel Brassey Halhed Member of Parliament for Lymington 1796–1801 With: Sir Harry Burrard-Neale, Bt Parliament of Great Britain abolished Parliament of the United Kingdom New creationParliament of the United Kingdom created Member of Parliament for Lymington 1801–1806 With: Sir Harry Burrard-Neale, Bt to 1802Harry Burrard 1802John Kingston 1802–1806 Succeeded byJohn KingstonSir Harry Burrard-Neale, Bt Preceded byPatrick Craufurd BruceCharles Thellusson Member of Parliament for Evesham 1806–1818 With: Humphrey Howorth 1806–1807, 1808–1818Sir Manasseh Lopes, Bt 1807–1808 Succeeded byWilliam Rouse-BoughtonHumphrey Howorth Preceded bySir Harry Burrard-Neale, BtJohn Taylor Member of Parliament for Lymington 1818–1820 With: Sir Harry Burrard-Neale, Bt Succeeded bySir Harry Burrard-Neale, BtGeorge Finch Preceded bySir Harry Burrard-Neale, BtGeorge Finch Member of Parliament for Lymington 1821–1826 With: Sir Harry Burrard-Neale, Bt to 1823Walter Boyd from 1823 Succeeded byWalter BoydGuy Lenox Prendergast Preceded byPascoe GrenfellRobert Stanton Member of Parliament for Penryn 1826–1830 With: David Barclay Succeeded bySir Charles LemonJames William Freshfield Government offices Preceded byJohn Pearse Governor of the Bank of England 1812–1814 Succeeded byWilliam Mellish
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