William Selby Lowndes
Encyclopedia
William Selby Lowndes was a United Kingdom
Member of Parliament
.
The Lowndes family were conservative Anglican landowners in the English county of Buckinghamshire
. This gentry family was prominent in the county during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Richard Lowndes had represented Buckinghamshire in Parliament between 1741–1774.
in the United Kingdom House of Commons from 1810-1820.
He was known as a High Church
Anglican and became a supporter of Viscount Sidmouth
's policy of limiting the number of dissenting ministers given official toleration. He came into conflict with the Nonconformist minority of the local population in the first decade of the nineteenth century. Selby Lowndes, who was Chairman of the county Quarter Sessions
(at this period a body of magistrates with both judicial and administrative responsibilities), had refused registration as a dissenting minister to the Reverend Peter Tyler who had a congregation at Haddenham, Buckinghamshire
. Tyler was to become a major figure in the political campaigns of the Bucks dissenters and a leading local Liberal
. His case was one of those raised by opponents to Sidmouth's bill on the issue.
The conservative religious views of Selby Lowndes, which balanced the comparative liberalism of the Grenville family who normally filled one of the two county seats in Parliament, made him an attractive candidate to hold the other seat. However in the 1820 election
, when he unexpectedly did not seek re-election, his seat was gained unopposed by the Hon. Robert Smith
an advocate of the Whig
policy of religious liberty.
before the Court of Common Pleas
, heard before the Grand Assize of Buckinghamshire (a jury like body of four knights of the shire and twelve recogniters). At one time such actions had been dealt with by trial by battle, but such trials had been abolished in 1819. The whole form of action by writ of right procedure had been abolished by Parliament for the future, by the time this case was heard.
Selby Lowndes had won the first trial of the case, but on appeal the case was sent back for a re-trial. Lord Chief Justice Tindal
and the other judges of the court presided at the trial at bar in Westminster Hall which started on 28 November 1838. Selby Lowndes was represented, as lead Counsel, by the Attorney-General Sir John Campbell
.
The case concerned an estate known as Waddon Hall in Buckinghamshire worth between £4,000 and £5,000 a year. A Mr T.J. Selby had left the estate to his heir at law and if none could be found to a friend of his, who was then a Major of the Militia named William Lowndes, on condition he changed his surname to Selby Lowndes. Selby died in 1772. Many people claimed to be the heir-at-law but eventually the claims were all dismissed. By 1783 Lowndes, the father of the subject of this article, had changed his name and inherited the estate. Selby Lowndes father had settled the estate upon him, on his marriage.
The day before the applicable sixty year limitation period
for a claim of this nature expired on 6 December 1832, a Mr Davies claimed the estate on the basis that he was the heir at law of the late Mr Selby.
The grand assize found for Selby Lowndes.
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...
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,...
.
The Lowndes family were conservative Anglican landowners in the English county of Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. This gentry family was prominent in the county during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Richard Lowndes had represented Buckinghamshire in Parliament between 1741–1774.
Public career
William Selby Lowndes served as a knight of the shire representing BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Buckinghamshire is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885.Its most prominent member was...
in the United Kingdom House of Commons from 1810-1820.
He was known as a High Church
High church
The term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...
Anglican and became a supporter of Viscount Sidmouth
Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth
Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, PC was a British statesman, and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804....
's policy of limiting the number of dissenting ministers given official toleration. He came into conflict with the Nonconformist minority of the local population in the first decade of the nineteenth century. Selby Lowndes, who was Chairman of the county Quarter Sessions
Quarter Sessions
The Courts of Quarter Sessions or Quarter Sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the United Kingdom and other countries in the former British Empire...
(at this period a body of magistrates with both judicial and administrative responsibilities), had refused registration as a dissenting minister to the Reverend Peter Tyler who had a congregation at Haddenham, Buckinghamshire
Haddenham, Buckinghamshire
Haddenham is a large village and is also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. Its estimated population in 2011 is 8,385 It is about south-west of Aylesbury and north-east of Thame.-History:...
. Tyler was to become a major figure in the political campaigns of the Bucks dissenters and a leading local 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...
. His case was one of those raised by opponents to Sidmouth's bill on the issue.
The conservative religious views of Selby Lowndes, which balanced the comparative liberalism of the Grenville family who normally filled one of the two county seats in Parliament, made him an attractive candidate to hold the other seat. However in the 1820 election
United Kingdom general election, 1820
The 1820 UK general election, held shortly after the Radical War in Scotland and the Cato Street Conspiracy. In this atmosphere, the Tories under the Earl of Liverpool were able to win a substantial majority over the Whigs....
, when he unexpectedly did not seek re-election, his seat was gained unopposed by the Hon. Robert Smith
Robert John Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington
Robert John Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington was a baron in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He was the son of Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington....
an advocate of the Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
policy of religious liberty.
Davies v Lowndes (1838) litigation
Selby Lowndes was a party to the last action for recovery of land brought by writ of rightForm of action
The forms of action were the different procedures by which a legal claim could be made in the early history of the English common law. While in modern English law, as in most other legal systems, the focus is on the substance underlying an action, such as the existence of a legal right, in the...
before the Court of Common Pleas
Court of Common Pleas (England)
The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common...
, heard before the Grand Assize of Buckinghamshire (a jury like body of four knights of the shire and twelve recogniters). At one time such actions had been dealt with by trial by battle, but such trials had been abolished in 1819. The whole form of action by writ of right procedure had been abolished by Parliament for the future, by the time this case was heard.
Selby Lowndes had won the first trial of the case, but on appeal the case was sent back for a re-trial. Lord Chief Justice Tindal
Nicholas Conyngham Tindal
Sir Nicolas Conyngham Tindal was a celebrated English lawyer who successfully defended Queen Caroline at her trial for adultery in 1820...
and the other judges of the court presided at the trial at bar in Westminster Hall which started on 28 November 1838. Selby Lowndes was represented, as lead Counsel, by the Attorney-General Sir John Campbell
John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell
John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell PC, KC was a British Liberal politician, lawyer, and man of letters.-Background and education:...
.
The case concerned an estate known as Waddon Hall in Buckinghamshire worth between £4,000 and £5,000 a year. A Mr T.J. Selby had left the estate to his heir at law and if none could be found to a friend of his, who was then a Major of the Militia named William Lowndes, on condition he changed his surname to Selby Lowndes. Selby died in 1772. Many people claimed to be the heir-at-law but eventually the claims were all dismissed. By 1783 Lowndes, the father of the subject of this article, had changed his name and inherited the estate. Selby Lowndes father had settled the estate upon him, on his marriage.
The day before the applicable sixty year limitation period
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
for a claim of this nature expired on 6 December 1832, a Mr Davies claimed the estate on the basis that he was the heir at law of the late Mr Selby.
The grand assize found for Selby Lowndes.