William Paston, 2nd Earl of Yarmouth (1654 – 25 December 1732) of Oxnead, Norfolk and Turnham Green, Chiswick, Middlesex was a British peer and politician. [1]
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Born in 1654, he was the son of Robert Paston, 1st Earl of Yarmouth and his wife, Rebecca, née Clayton and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Yarmouth in 1683, inheriting his estate and Oxnead Hall.
Paston was elected Member of Parliament for Norwich from 1678. In 1679, when his father was made an earl, William adopted the style of Lord Paston. He continued to represent Norwich until he inherited his father's title.
He converted to Roman Catholicism and in February 1687, James II appointed him Treasurer of the Household. He was also appointed joint Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire and Custos Rotulorum of Wiltshire in 1688.
He reconverted to Anglicanism in 1689, but refused to swear allegiance to William and Mary when they came to the throne that year, subsequently losing all his offices.
Suspected of Jacobitism, he was imprisoned twice, but was admitted to the House of Lords in 1696. He was briefly Vice-Admiral of Norfolk in 1719.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1722. [2]
Private life
Yarmouth died heavily in debt on 25 December 1732 at Epsom, Surrey, aged seventy-eight. In 1671, he had married the widowed Charlotte FitzRoy, the illegitimate daughter of Charles II and Elizabeth Killigrew. They had four children who survived childhood, though only one survived him:
- Charles Paston, Lord Paston (1673–1718)
- Lady Charlotte Paston (1675–1736), married Thomas Herne.
- Lady Rebecca Paston (1681–1726), married Sir John Holland, 2nd Baronet.
- Hon. William Paston (1682–1711)
His wife having died in 1684, he married Elizabeth Wiseman (the widow of Sir Robert Wiseman and daughter of Dudley North, 4th Baron North) in March 1687. [3]
As his sons, his brothers and their male heirs had predeceased him, his titles became extinct. His heavily mortgaged estate had to be sold.
See also
References
- ^ "PASTON, Hon. William (c.1654-1732), of Oxnead, Norf. and Turnham Green, Chiswick, Mdx". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- ^ "Fellows details". Royal Society. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- ^ Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004), "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Elizabeth Wiseman in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. ref:odnb/69890, doi: 10.1093/ref:odnb/69890, retrieved 9 May 2023
Sources
- John Miller, Paston, Robert, first earl of Yarmouth (1631–1683), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 26 May 2008
- 1654 births
- 1732 deaths
- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
- Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism
- Lord-Lieutenants of Wiltshire
- Treasurers of the Household
- 17th-century Anglicans
- 17th-century Roman Catholics
- English MPs 1661–1679
- English MPs 1679
- English MPs 1680–1681
- English MPs 1681
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Earls of Yarmouth (1679 creation)
- Paston family