John Wilson-Patten, 1st Baron Winmarleigh

The Right Honourable The Lord Winmarleigh PC
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office 26 June 1867 – 7 November 1868
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Earl of Derby Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded by	The Earl of Devon
Succeeded by	Thomas Edward Taylor
Chief Secretary for Ireland
In office 29 September 1868 – 1 December 1868
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded by	The Earl of Mayo
Succeeded by	Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue
Personal details
Born	26 April 1802
Died	11 July 1892 (aged 90)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Anna Maria Patten-Bold
Alma mater	Magdalen College, Oxford

John Wilson-Patten, 1st Baron Winmarleigh PC (26 April 1802 – 11 July 1892) was a British Conservative politician.

Background and education

Winmarleigh was the second son of Thomas Wilson (formerly Patten) of Warrington, Lancashire, and Elizabeth Hyde, daughter of Nathan Hyde of Ardwick. His father had in 1800 assumed the surname of Wilson in lieu of Patten in accordance with the will of Thomas Wilson (his first cousin twice removed), son of Thomas Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man from 1697 to 1755, to whose estates Patten succeeded. However, a few years later the family assumed the surname of Wilson-Patten. He was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford. While at Oxford, he became friendly with, amongst others, Edward Stanley, later 14th Earl of Derby. He was the president of the Oxford Union.

He built Winmarleigh Hall in 1871.

Political career

In 1830 Winmarleigh was elected Member of Parliament for Lancashire, but stood down the following year. However, in 1832 he returned to Parliament as representative for the newly created constituency of North Lancashire, a seat he would hold for the next 42 years.^[1] In the House of Commons he became known as a supporter of industrial and labour reform, and took an active part in helping to relieve the Lancashire cotton famine of 1861 to 1865. However, Wilson-Patten did not hold ministerial office until 1867, when, aged 65, he was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the last administration of his old friend the Earl of Derby. He was admitted to the Privy Council the same year. He remained in this post until the following year, and then served briefly under Benjamin Disraeli as Chief Secretary for Ireland from September to December 1868. The latter year he also became a member of the Irish Privy Council. In 1874, on his retirement from the House of Commons, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Winmarleigh, of Winmarleigh in the County Palatine of Lancaster.^[2] However, he was seldom active in the House of Lords.

Family

In 1828 Wilson-Patten married Anna Maria Patten-Bold, daughter of his paternal uncle Peter Patten-Bold. They had six children, two sons and four daughters. However, Lord Winmarleigh survived both of his two sons, Captain John Wilson-Patten (d. 1873) and Arthur Wilson-Patten (1841-1866), as well as his grandson John Alfred Wilson-Patten (d. 1889), the only son of John. Consequently, on his death at the age of ninety in 1892 the barony became extinct.

References

1. leighrayment.com House of Commons: Ladywood to Leek
2. The London Gazette: no. 24076. p. 1692. 17 March 1874.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Wilson-Patten