William Joseph Denison

{{Short description|English banker, politician and landowner}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}} {{Use British English|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = William Joseph Denison, MP | image = William Joseph Denison Giller.jpg | image_upright = | alt = | caption = Print of an engraving of Denison by William Giller, after Frederick Richard Say. | birth_date = {{Birth date|1769|05|12|df=y}} | birth_place = West Yorkshire | death_date = {{Death date and age|1849|08|02|1769|05|12|df=y}} | death_place = Pall Mall, London | resting_place = Bunhill Fields | monuments = | office = Member of Parliament | constituency1 = Camelford | term_start1 = 1796 | term_end1 = 1802 | alongside1 = John Angerstein | predecessor1 = William Smith | successor1 = Robert Adair | constituency2 = Kingston–upon–Hull | term_start2 = 1806 | term_end2 = 1807 | signature = Signature of William Joseph Denison MP (1831).png | alongside2 = John Staniforth | predecessor2 = Samuel Thornton | successor2 = Philip Stanhope | constituency3 = Surrey | term_start3 = 1818 | term_end3 = 1832 | alongside3 = {{plainlist}} * George Holme Sumner (1818–1826) * Charles Nicholas Pallmer (1826–1830) * John Ivatt Briscoe (1830–1832) {{endplainlist}} | predecessor3 = Samuel Thornton | successor3 = ''Constituency divided'' | constituency4 = West Surrey | term_start4 = 1832 | term_end4 = 1849 | alongside4 = {{plainlist}} * John Leech ''or'' Leach (1832–1835) * Charles Barclay (1835–1837) * George Perceval (1837–1840) * John Trotter (1840–1847) * Henry Drummond (1847–1849) {{endplainlist}} | predecessor4 = ''New constituency'' | successor4 = William John Evelyn | occupation = {{plainlist}} * Banker * Politician * Landowner {{endplainlist}} | party = Whig | father = Joseph Denison | spouse = ''None'' | children = ''None'' | relatives = {{plainlist}} * Elizabeth, Marchioness Conyngham (''sister'') * Anna Maria, Baroness Wenlock (''sister'') {{endplainlist}} | footnotes = }}

'''William Joseph Denison''' (12 May 1769 – 2 August 1849), son of Joseph Denison (c.{{nbsp}}1726 – 1806), was an English banker, politician, landowner, and philanthropist.

==Biography== [[File:Denbies when owned by Denison (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|255x255px|Denison's house on his Denbies estate, c.{{nbsp}}1840.]]

William was born in Princes Street, Lothbury, the only son of Joseph Denison (1726?–1806), who had gone to London from the west of Yorkshire at an early age and amassed a fortune.

William was a highly successful banker and became a senior partner in the firm of Denison, Heywood, & Kennard (based in Lombard Street, London). He also had a long political career, first serving as a Whig MP for Camelford between 1796 and 1802. In 1806 he was elected to the constituency of Kingston upon Hull, and represented Surrey from 1818 until 1832. Following the passing of the Reform Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), he was returned as an MP for the newly created constituency of West Surrey, then held the seat for the remainder of his life.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/denison-william-1770-1849|title= DENISON, William Joseph (1770–1849), of Denbies, nr. Dorking, Surr.|publisher= History of Parliament Online|accessdate= 11 May 2016}}</ref>

Upon the death of his father in 1806, Denison acquired estates in Yorkshire (Seamer, south of Scarborough) and Surrey (Denbies, near Dorking). During the course of his lifetime, he extended the boundaries of the latter considerably through the purchase of adjoining land from both the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Verulam. Denison also increased the size of his financial inheritance to such an extent that, following his death in Pall Mall, London, on 2 August 1849, the gross value of his estate was an estimated £2,300,000 (equivalent to around £184 million in 2017). He was selected High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1808/09. Having never married, virtually all of his estate passed to his nephew, Lord Albert Conyngham, on condition that he take the surname Denison.

According to the records of The General Cemetery Company (incorporated by act of Parliament in 1832), Denison is buried in plot 8304 at Kensal Green Cemetery.

==Notes== {{Notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/denison-william-joseph-1770-1849 historyofparliamentonline.org, ''Denison, William Joseph (1770–1849), of Denbies, nr. Dorking, Surr.'']

'''Attribution'''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denison, William Joseph}} Category:1770 births Category:1849 deaths Category:English bankers Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Category:British MPs 1796–1800 Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Category:UK MPs 1801–1802 Category:UK MPs 1806–1807 Category:UK MPs 1818–1820 Category:UK MPs 1820–1826 Category:UK MPs 1826–1830 Category:UK MPs 1830–1831 Category:UK MPs 1831–1832 Category:UK MPs 1832–1835 Category:UK MPs 1835–1837 Category:UK MPs 1837–1841 Category:UK MPs 1841–1847 Category:UK MPs 1847–1852 Category:Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Category:19th-century English landowners Category:High sheriffs of Yorkshire Category:18th-century English landowners