DEEDES, William (1761-1834), of Sandling, nr. Hythe, Kent.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1807 - 1812

Family and Education

b. June 1761, 1st s. of William Deedes of St. Stephen’s, nr. Canterbury and Hythe by Mary, da. of Thomas Bramston of Skreens, Essex. educ. St. Alban Hall, Oxf. 1779, BA Corpus 1783. m. 27 Dec. 1791, Sophia, da. of Sir Brook Bridges, 3rd Bt., of Goodnestone Park, Kent, 10s. 5da. suc. fa. 1793.

Offices Held

Capt. Hythe vols. 1794; lt.-col. S. Kent vols. 1804.

Biography

In 1807 Deedes responded to a late invitation from ‘a very numerous body of the freeman’ to contest Hythe, which lay close to his main estate. Recommended by Sir Philip Hales of Bekesbourne, a groom of the bedchamber, as ‘a gentleman whose discharge of his duties as a magistrate and country gentleman entitled him to support’, he gained second place in the poll after a contest.1 He is not known to have opposed the Portland government and voted with the Perceval ministry on the address, 23 Jan., and the Scheldt expedition, 30 Mar. 1810, shortly after the Whigs had listed him under ‘Government’. He voted against the release of John Gale Jones, 16 Apr., sinecure reductions, 17 May, and parliamentary reform, 21 May 1810. His only other recorded vote was with the ministerial minority on the sinecure offices bill, 4 May 1812. He is not known to have spoken in the House.

The Whig Lord Thanet reported to Lord Holland, 30 Sept. 1812, that Deedes ‘is a rich man but I have heard from pretty good authority he would not spend money. He is Tory and anti-Catholic to the bone, in other respects not popular.’2 As Thanet predicted, Deedes retired from Hythe at the dissolution and he is not known to have made any attempt to regain the seat. He died 19 Apr. 1834.3

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: J. M. Collinge

Notes

  • 1. Kentish Chron. 5, 8 May 1807.
  • 2. Add. 51571.
  • 3. Kentish Chron. 29 Apr. 1834.