William Manning (British politician)
William Manning | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date |
| Died | April 17, 1835 (aged 71) |
| Occupation(s) | Merchant, politician |
| Known for | Governor of the Bank of England |
William Manning (born 1 December 1763, died 17 April 1835) was a notable British merchant and politician who also held the position of Governor of the Bank of England.
Biography
The son of West India trader William Coventry Manning and Elizabeth Ryan, Manning had a sister, Martha, who was married to John Laurens, an American Revolutionary War figure.
He entered his father’s business and took over leadership following his father’s passing in 1791. Manning held a directorship at the Bank of England from 1792 until 1831, served as Deputy Governor between 1810 and 1812, and was Governor from 1812 to 1814.
In his commercial pursuits, he represented the interests of St Vincent (1792–1806) and Grenada (1825–1831) in the West Indies. He was an investor in the Australian Agricultural Company and became its Deputy Governor in 1826. Additionally, Manning led London Life Assurance as president from 1817 to 1830. The Manning River in New South Wales carries his name in recognition.
Manning, alongside other traders, petitioned Secretary for Colonies William Huskisson to secure exclusive trading privileges in New Zealand. Records from 1825 list a "William Mannings" as a director of the New Zealand Company, an early colonial enterprise overseen by Whig MP John George Lambton.
From 1794 through to 1830, Manning was almost continuously active as a Member of Parliament representing Evesham, Lymington, and Penryn. He was also a significant slaveholder and part of the West India Committee, where he opposed efforts toward the abolition of slavery.
Personal life
Manning married twice: initially to Elizabeth, daughter of Nottingham banker Abel Smith, with whom he had two daughters; later to Mary, daughter of barrister Henry Lannoy Hunter from Beech Hill, Reading, Berkshire. This union produced four sons and four daughters.
He came into possession of Copped Hall, Totteridge, Hertfordshire, where Mary Hunter undertook a redesign of the grounds—likely consulting landscape designer Humphry Repton—and created an ornamental lake by damming the Folly Brook, now known as Darland's Lake.
Following the death of Lord Frederick Campbell in 1816, Manning acquired Combe Bank near Sevenoaks in Kent. However, financial setbacks during the 1820s culminated in his bankruptcy declaration in 1831. Consequently, he resigned from the Bank of England, divested his estates, and moved to a more modest residence on Gower Street, London.
William Manning passed away at his Gower Street home in 1835 and was interred at Sundridge, Kent.
Among his children was Henry Manning, who became a prominent Anglican clergyman and leader within the Oxford Movement, later converting to Catholicism and serving as Archbishop of Westminster starting in 1865.