James Milnes Gaskell

James Milnes Gaskell
DL JP
Member of Parliament for Wenlock
In office
1832–1868
Preceded byPaul Thompson
George Weld-Forester
Succeeded byAlexander Hargreaves Brown
George Weld-Forester
Personal details
Born(1810-10-19)19 October 1810
Died5 February 1873(1873-02-05) (aged 62)
Norfolk Street, Park Lane, London
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Mary Wynn
​
​
(after 1832)​
RelationsDaniel Gaskell (uncle)
Children4
Parent(s)Benjamin Gaskell
Mary Brandreth
EducationEton College
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford

James Milnes Gaskell DL JP (19 October 1810 – 5 February 1873) was a British Conservative politician.

Early life

James Milnes-Gaskell was born on 19 October 1810. He was the only child of Mary (née Brandreth) Gaskell (a daughter of Dr. Joseph Brandreth of Liverpool) and Benjamin Gaskell (1781–1856) of Thornes House, Wakefield, West Yorkshire and Clifton Hall, Lancashire. His father was a Whig MP for Maldon. His paternal grandparents were Daniel Gaskell and Hannah (née Noble) Gaskell (daughter of James Noble of Lancaster).[1]

He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford.[2] His political interest may have been influenced by meeting lifelong friend William Ewart Gladstone as a school contemporary, and receiving visits during term from George Canning.[3]

Career

He was M.P. for Wenlock in Shropshire from 1832 until retiring in 1868. His uncle, Daniel Gaskell, also entered Parliament as first M.P. for Wakefield in 1832, at same general election as James.[4] He served as a Lord of the Treasury from 1841 to 11 March 1846 under Sir Robert Peel's administration.[5]

It was at Gaskell's then home in Tilney Street, London, in 1834, that Gladstone met his future wife, Catherine Glynne.[3]

Career

Portrait of his wife and her sister, entitled Preparing for a Fancy Dress Ball, by William Etty, 1833.

In 1832 he married Mary Williams-Wynn, daughter of the Rt Hon. Charles Williams-Wynn, (also a Member of Parliament) and Mary Cunliffe (a daughter of Sir Foster Cunliffe, 3rd Baronet). Together, they were the parents of two sons and two daughters, including:[2]

It was from his wife's cousin, Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, that Gaskell bought in 1857 the site of Wenlock Priory, whose ruins he restored and whose Prior's Lodge he made into a family home.[3][8]

He died at 28 Norfolk Street, Park Lane, London on 5 February 1873, aged sixty-two, and was buried in the parish churchyard at Much Wenlock.[9]

Descendants

Through his daughter Isabel, he was a grandfather of Maj.-Gen. Fitzgerald Wintour (himself the grandfather of Vogue editor Anna Wintour).[2]

References

  1. ^ Fisher, David R.; Kadish, Sharman. "GASKELL, Benjamin (1781-1856), of Thornes House, nr. Wakefield, Yorks. and Clifton House, nr. Manchester, Lancs". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 2, page 2636; volume 3, page 3272-3273.
  3. ^ a b c Weyman, Henry T. (1902). "Members of Parliament for Wenlock". Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society, Third Series, Volume II. pp. 353–354.
  4. ^ Burke's Landed Gentry, 1937. Burke's Peerage Ltd. p. 869.
  5. ^ Matthew, H. C. G. (2004). "Gaskell, James Milnes (1810–1873), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/55803. Retrieved 18 December 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. ^ Dickins, Gordon (1987). An Illustrated Literary Guide to Shropshire. Shropshire Libraries. pp. 33–34, 44, 104. ISBN 0-903802-37-6.
  7. ^ Williams, Gareth (2021). The Country Houses of Shropshire. Boydell & Brewer. p. 670. ISBN 978-1-78327-539-7. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  8. ^ Gamble, Cynthia (2015). Wenlock Abbey 1857-1919: A Shropshire Country House and the Milnes Gaskell Family. Ellingham Press. ISBN 978-0993007316.
  9. ^ "Death of J. Milnes Gaskell, Esq". Shrewsbury Chronicle. 14 February 1873. p. 6.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Wenlock
1832–1868
With: George Weld-Forester 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Junior Lord of the Treasury
1841–1846 		Succeeded by