William Henry Whitbread was an English Whig and Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

  politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1818 to 1835.

Whitbread was the son of brewer Samuel Whitbread and his wife Lady Elizabeth Grey, the eldest daughter of Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey

Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey

Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey, KB PC was one of the most important British generals of the 18th century. He was the fourth son of Sir Henry Grey, 1st Baronet, of Howick in Northumberland. He served in the Seven Years' War, American War of Independence and French Revolutionary War...

. He was educated at Eton College

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 and Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

. He was awarded M.A. in 1816 and became a partner with his brother Samuel Charles Whitbread

Samuel Charles Whitbread

Samuel Charles Whitbread was a British Member of Parliament and member of the Whitbread brewing family.He was the son of Samuel Whitbread. He represented the constituency of Middlesex and was High Sheriff of Bedfordshire in 1831.His interests were astronomy and meteorology...

  in the brewing firm.

In 1818 Whitbread was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Bedford

Bedford (UK Parliament constituency)

Bedford is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The seat was established in its current form in 1997, restoring a centuries old name. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election...

 and held the seat until 1835. He was a J.P.

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 and Deputy Lieutenant

Deputy Lieutenant

In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....

 for Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....

 and became High Sheriff of Bedfordshire

High Sheriff of Bedfordshire

-1066–1125:*1066-c.1084: Ansculf de Picquigny*Ralph Taillebois*Hugh de Belcamp*1124 Richard of WinchesterFrom 1125 through the end of 1575, appointees to the shrievalty held the joint office of High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.-1575–1599:...

in 1837

Whitbread lived at Southill, Bedfordshire and died at the age of 72

Whitbread married, Harriet Sneyd, daughter. of the Rev. Wettenhall Sneyd, of the Isle of Wight on 5 November 1845. They had no family

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