John Willett

"He was adopted from infancy by Ralph Willett of Merly [Dorset]; of Lincoln's Inn 1763; of Dean St., Soho, 1779; succeeded to Merly 1795 and took name of Willett. (Source: Caribbeana edited by Vere Langford Oliver.)

Educated1763 Age: 18Lincoln's Inn, London, England He may have been intended for the bar, but he seems rather to have inclined towards the antiquarian and artistic interests of his benefactor, whose valuable collection of books and pictures he inherited in 1795. (http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org)

Marriage to Catherine Brouncker178022 Aug Age: 35London, England From: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/wi...; also - she married one of the closest friends of her stepfather, John Stanley. http://emuseum.huntington.org

Was bequeathed estates of Ralph Willett17954 Feb Age: 50Merley and St Christopher (Caribbean) "I bequeath Merley and est. at St Christopher to my couzin John Willett Adye, 2d s. of my couzin Clara Adye, he to use the name and arms of Willett only. The statue of my l. uncle John Willett, Esq., in the hall not to be moved. (128, Newcastle)".

Changed his name179528 Feb Age: 50England He took name of Willett by royal licence on 28 Feb. 1795. The estates were said to be worth £10,000 a year. (Source: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/wi...)

Member of Parliament1796-1806 Age: 51New Romney MP for New Romney. (Sources: Caribbeana edited by Vere Langford Oliver, and http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/wi...)

Marriage to Frances Wilson18053 Jul Age: 60England From: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/wi...

Death181526 Sep Age: 70Bath, Somerset, England MI at Great Cranford, Dorset. (Source: Caribbeana edited by Vere Langford Oliver)

Fellowships England FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society), FRA (Fellow of the Royal Academy)

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WILLETT, John Willett (1745-1815), of Merley, Dorset.

, http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/wi...

WILLETT, John Willett (1745-1815), of Merley, Dorset.
Published in 1986

Constituency: New Romney Dates: 1796 - 1806

Family and Education

b. 1 Jan. 1745, 2nd s. of Stephen Adye of St. Kitts by Clara, da. of Abraham Payne of St. Kitts. educ. L. Inn 1763. m. (1) 22 Aug. 1780, Catherine (d. 10 Oct. 1798), da. of Henry Brouncker of St. Kitts, and Boveridge, Dorset, 2s. 1da.; (2) 3 July 1805, Frances née Wilson of Marylebone, Mdx., s.p. suc. to Dorset and W.I. estates of his cos. Ralph Willett and took name of Willett by royal lic. 28 Feb. 1795. Offices Held

Biography

Willett, like his first wife’s stepfather John Stanley*, owed his position in English society to his mother’s first cousin Ralph Willett, a wealthy West India proprietor and the owner since 1751 of a large Dorset estate, who had adopted him from infancy. Like Stanley, he may have been intended for the bar, but he seems rather to have inclined towards the antiquarian and artistic interests of his benefactor, whose valuable collection of books and pictures he inherited in 1795, together with his name and estates, said to be worth £10,000 a year, thus frustrating the hopes of another of Willett’s cousins, Ralph Payne*, 1st Earl of Lavington.1

The circumstances of Willett’s two returns for New Romney are not known, but they must have been the result either of private negotiations with the Dering family, patrons of the borough, or of a recommendation from administration, to whom the Derings frequently turned for guidance. He apparently gave silent support to Pitt’s first ministry. His first recorded vote was in favour of Calcraft’s motion for inquiry into the Prince of Wales’s debts, 4 Mar. 1803, an action which may have been prompted by his cousin John Willett Payne*, a companion of the Prince. He voted once only, so far as is known, in the divisions leading to Addington’s fall—in favour of Pitt’s motion for inquiry into naval strength, 15 Mar. 1804—and was classed ‘doubtful’ by George Rose in May 1804; but in September Rose listed him as ‘Pitt’, and he voted in the ministerial minority against Whitbread’s motion of censure on Melville, 8 Apr. 1805. He did not vote on the repeal of the Additional Force Act, 30 Apr. 1806, and was not retained by the ‘Talents’ at New Romney at the subsequent general election, after which he played no further part in politics.

By 1813 Willett was heavily in debt. In December the collections at Merley were sold at an auction lasting 17 days and realizing some £20,000, and shortly afterwards his son reported that his father had put his affairs in the hands of trustees and was

   living upon £1,000 a year till all the debts are paid. Poor Merley looks very miserable ... yet with all these sales I am afraid it will be a long time before the debt to the trust, which is very large, will be paid off.

My father, I am happy to say, has hitherto kept his health and spirits as well as could be expected under such an accumulation of misfortunes.2
He died 26 Sept. 1815.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820 Author: J. M. Collinge

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