William Draper Best, 1st Baron Wynford
Encyclopedia
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
(13 December 1767 – 3 March 1845), was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
politician and judge. He served as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
The Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, was the second highest common law court in the English legal system until 1880, when it was dissolved. As such, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was one of the highest judicial officials in England, behind only the Lord...
from 1824 to 1829.
Background and education
Best was the third son of Thomas Best of Haselbury PlucknettHaselbury Plucknett
Haselbury Plucknett is a village and civil parish on the River Parrett in Somerset, England, situated south west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 641....
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
. He became a student at Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...
at the age of 15, but left at 17 without a degree. Originally destined for a career in the Church, he instead chose to study law, and entered the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
in 1784.
Legal career
Best was called to the bar in 1789 and established a successful legal practice. In 1802 he was elected to parliament for PetersfieldPetersfield (UK Parliament constituency)
Petersfield was an English Parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Petersfield in Hampshire. It existed for several hundred years until its abolition for the 1983 general election....
as a Whig, a seat he held until 1806. After joining the Tories
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
, he sat for Bridport
Bridport (UK Parliament constituency)
Bridport was a parliamentary borough in Dorset, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1868, and then one member from 1868 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.-History:...
from 1812 to 1817 and then represented Guildford
Guildford (UK Parliament constituency)
Guildford is a county constituency in Surrey which returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system....
from 1818 to 1819. In 1813 Best was appointed Solicitor-General to the Prince of Wales
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
, which he remained until 1816, and was then Attorney-General to the Prince of Wales from 1816 to 1818. The following year he was made a Judge of the Common Pleas and knighted. Best was admitted to the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
in 1824 and appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
The Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, was the second highest common law court in the English legal system until 1880, when it was dissolved. As such, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was one of the highest judicial officials in England, behind only the Lord...
, in which post he remained until 1829. The latter year Best was raised to the peerage as Baron Wynford, of Wynford Eagle in the County of Dorset. Lord Wynford later served as a Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. Despite his earlier affiliation with the Whigs, he became known as an ardent Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
, and vigorously opposed the 1832 Reform Act. Lord Wynford suffered from gout
Gout
Gout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected . However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate...
for many years, and was carried into the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
in an arm-chair, in which he was also allowed to address the rest of the house. However, he was later forced to retire from public life due to his illness.
Family
In 1794, Lord Wynford married Mary Anne, daughter of Jerome Knapp JuniorJerome Knapp Junior
Jerome Knapp was the Clerk of the Haberdashers' Company and Treasurer of the Middle Temple in the City of London, and also Clerk of the Assize on the Home Circuit in England....
of Chilton
Chilton, Oxfordshire
Chilton is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse about southwest of Didcot. The parish was part of Berkshire until the 1974 local government boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire....
in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
(now Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
), Clerk of the Haberdashers' Company
Worshipful Company of Haberdashers
The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers is one of the senior Livery Companies of the City of London. The organisation, following on from the Mercers' Company, another Livery Company connected with clothing and haberdashery, received a Royal Charter in 1448...
, by his second wife, Sarah, daughter and eventual heiress of George Noyes of Southcote
Southcote
Southcote may be several places in England:*Southcote, Bedfordshire, a hamlet of Linslade*Southcote, Berkshire, a suburb of Reading*Southcote , a Canadian band*Southcote Baronets*George Southcote...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, and Andover, Hampshire
Andover, Hampshire
Andover is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is on the River Anton some 18.5 miles west of the town of Basingstoke, 18.5 miles north-west of the city of Winchester and 25 miles north of the city of Southampton...
. They lived together at Wynford House at Wynford Eagle in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
where they raised ten children. He died in March 1845, aged 77, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son William Samuel Best. Lord Wynford's daughter, Grace Anne Best, married Philip Lake Godsal, the grandfather of Philip Thomas Godsal
Philip Thomas Godsal
Major Philip Thomas Godsal, Soldier, gentleman, marksman, historian and inventor of a gun mechanism was born at Plas Fron, Wrexham in 1850, the son of Philip William Godsal, of Iscoyd Park and Charlotte Harriet Garth...
.