William Drake (c. 1747-1795) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1768 and 1795.
The House of Commons is the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada and historically was the name of the lower houses of the Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Great Britain, Kingdom of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Southern Ireland. Roughly equivalent bodies in other countries which were once part of the British Empire include the United States House of Representatives, the Australian House of Representatives, the New Zealand House of Representatives, and India's Lok Sabha.
Drake was the son of William Drake of Shardeloes and his wife Elizabeth Raworth, daughter of John Raworth of Basinghall St., London. He was educated at Westminster School from 1759 to 1764 and matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford on 20 June 1765, aged 17. He then undertook the Grand Tour. [1]
William Drake (1723–1796), was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons for 50 years between 1746 and 1796, eventually becoming Father of the House.
Shardeloes is a large 18th-century country house located one mile west of Amersham in Buckinghamshire, England, UK. A previous manor house on the site was demolished and the present building constructed between 1758 and 1766 for William Drake, Sr., the Member of Parliament for Amersham. Shardeloes is a Grade I listed building.
Westminster School is an independent day and boarding school in London, England, within the precincts of Westminster Abbey. Boys are admitted at age seven and thirteen, and girls at sixteen to the Sixth Form. The school has around 750 pupils; around a quarter are boarders.
In 1768 he was returned as Member of Parliament for Amersham. He was re-elected in 1774, 1780 1784 and 1790 and shared the seat with his father all that time. He was a prolific speaker with a powerful voice. It was said ”He talked sense, and his speeches were ornate: he was fond of a Latin quotation”. [1]
The 1768 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 13th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707.
Amersham, often spelt as Agmondesham, was a constituency of the House of Commons of England until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament (MPs), elected by the bloc-vote system.
Drake married firstly Mary Hussey on 17 February 1778 who died six months later, and secondly Rachel Elizabeth Ives of Norwich on 20 August 1781. [1]
Drake predeceased his father on 18 May 1795 leaving an immense property partly acquired by marriage, and partly by some collateral branches. It was said that had he lived to inherit that of his father, he would have been one of the richest men in the country. [1]
