William Wentworth-FitzWilliam, Viscount Milton

William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, Viscount Milton (27 July 1839 – 17 January 1877) was a British explorer[1] and Liberal Party politician..

Milton was the eldest son of William Wentworth-FitzWilliam, 6th Earl FitzWilliam, and his wife Lady Frances Harriet, daughter of George Douglas, 17th Earl of Morton, and was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.[2] He was epileptic.

Arriving in Quebec City in July 1862, Milton and Dr Walter Butler Cheadle traveled across the North American continent, wintering near Fort Carlton. After a challenging and at times humorous summer they reached Victoria, BC. Together with Butler Cheadle, he traveled up the Athabasca River and in 1863 they became the first "tourists" to travel through the Yellowhead Pass.

They later co-authored "The North-West Passage by Land" [3] and " Voyage de l'Atlantique au Pacifique, à travers le Canada",[4] which described their expedition in considerable detail.

Following his adventure in Canada, Milton entered politics and became one of the youngest members of the House of Commons. He represented the West Riding of Yorkshire South between 1865 and 1872.

Marriage and issue

On 10 August 1867, in London, Lord Milton married Laura Maria Theresa Beauclerk (3 January 1849 – 30 March 1886 Wentworth Woodhouse), daughter of Lord Charles Beauclerk, son of the William Beauclerk, 8th Duke of St Albans. They had one son and three daughters;

Viscount Milton died on 18 January 1877, aged 37, predeceasing his father. Their son succeeded as Earl FitzWilliam in 1902.

See also

Notes

  1. "Obituary. Lord Milton". Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society 21: 416–418. 1877.
  2. "Fitzwilliam, the Hon. William Wentworth (Viscount Milton) (FTSN859WW)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. The North-West Passage by Land, William Fitzwilliam Milton, Viscount; Walter B Cheadle, OCLC 4999700 London, Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1865
  4. Voyage de l'Atlantique au Pacifique, à travers le Canada, les montagnes Rocheuses et la Colombie anglaise, William Fitzwilliam Milton, Viscount; Walter B Cheadle, ISBN 0-665-13641-2 Paris : Hachette, 1879

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for the West Riding of Yorkshire South
18651872
With: Henry Beaumont
Succeeded by
Henry Beaumont and
Walter Spencer-Stanhope


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