William Coventry, 5th Earl of Coventry

William Coventry, 5th Earl of Coventry PC (c.1676 – 18 March 1751), of London and later Croome Court, Worcestershire, was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 to 1719.

Early life

Coventry was the son of Walter Coventry and his wife Anne (née Holcombe), daughter of Humphrey Holcombe, merchant, of St. Andrew's Holborn. He succeeded his father in 1692. He was admitted at Pembroke College, Cambridge on 13 April 1693, aged 16.[1] His grandfather Walter Coventry was the youngest brother of Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry.[2]

Career

Coventry was returned unopposed as Whig [[Member of Parliament for Bridport at the 1708 British general election. He voted for naturalizing the Palatines in 1709 and for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710. At the 1710 British general election he was again returned unopposed. He voted for the amendment to the South Sea bill on 25 May 1711 and for the motion for ‘No Peace without Spain’ on 7 December. He also voted against the French commerce bill on 18 June 13. At the 1713 British general election he was returned again unopposed for Bridport. He voted against the expulsion of Richard Steele on 18 March 1713.[2]

Coventry was returned again as MP for Bridport at the 1715 British general election. He voted for the Administration in all recorded divisions. Early in the parliament, he applied for the office of clerk of the Parliaments, but Sir Robert Walpole kept upping the price to him until he angrily refused. He was appointed Keeper, bailiwick of Frisham, New Forest by 1717 and was appointed Joint Clerk Comptroller of the Board of Green Cloth in 1717. His only known speech was in December 1717, when he supported a motion to maintain. In 1719, he accompanied the King to Hanover and he succeeded his second cousin once removed as fifth Earl of Coventry on 27 October 1719. He vacated his seat in the House of Commons and entered the House of Lords where he became a ‘malcontent’, and signed many protests. He was appointed to the Privy Council on 22 March 1720 and was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire in the same year. In the House of Lords.[3]

Later life and legacy

Lord Coventry married Elizabeth Allen, daughter of John Allen of Westminster, in 1720.[3] In 1724 he was successfully sued by Anne Coventry, the widow of Gilbert Coventry who was the previous earl, for her inheritance.[4] He became High Steward of Bridport in 1727.[3]

Coventry's wife died in 1738. He survived her by thirteen years and died in March 1751. He had three sons and as his eldest son Thomas Henry Coventry, Viscount Deerhurst, predeceased him so he was succeeded by his second son George[2], who extensively redeveloped Croome Court. His third son was John Bulkeley Coventry, who succeeded George as MP for Worcestershire.

gollark: I don't know. I don't think it's a significant amount but I don't have metrics on how often:- there actually is something like that going on/obviously visible, and nothing else happening in non-off-topic channels people actually discuss esolangs in- this is likely to make someone who may otherwise be an active member not be (I'd expect this is driven by other things)

gollark: Not sure if this is actually the case.

gollark: If it's nonjokingly we should maybe not do that then.

gollark: When did we actually *incite* violence?

gollark: It turns out that they are, but luckily I can't punch very hard.

References

"Coventry, William (CVNY693W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
"COVENTRY, William (c.1676-1751), of London". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
"COVENTRY, William (?1676-1751), of Croome Court, Worcs". History of Parliament Online (1715-1754). Retrieved 9 June 2019.
Matthew Kilburn, ‘Coventry , Anne, countess of Coventry (1691–1788)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 28 Nov 2014

Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Alexander Pitfield Thomas Strangways	Member of Parliament for Bridport 1708–1719 With: Thomas Strangways 1708–1713 John Hoskins Gifford 1713–1715 John Strangways 1715 Peter Walter 1715–1719	Succeeded by Peter Walter Sir Dewey Bulkeley
Honorary titles
Vacant Title last held by The Duke of Shrewsbury	Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire 1719–1751	Succeeded by The Earl of Coventry
Preceded by The Lord Parker	Custos Rotulorum of Worcestershire 1719–1751	Succeeded by The Earl of Coventry
Peerage of England
Preceded by Gilbert Coventry	Earl of Coventry 1719–1751	Succeeded by George William Coventry

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[CU-1] "Coventry, William (CVNY693W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.

[HOP-2] "COVENTRY, William (c.1676-1751), of London". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 13 July 2016.

[HOP2-3] "COVENTRY, William (?1676-1751), of Croome Court, Worcs". History of Parliament Online (1715-1754). Retrieved 9 June 2019.

[odnb-4] Matthew Kilburn, ‘Coventry , Anne, countess of Coventry (1691–1788)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 28 Nov 2014