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WILLIAMS, Hugh (?1694-1742), of Chester.
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Dates
Family and Education
b. ?1694, 1st s. of John Williams of Chester by Catherine, da. of Sir Hugh Owen, 2nd Bt., M.P., of Orielton, Pemb.; bro. of Kyffin Williams. educ. Jesus, Oxf. 3 June 1712, aged 17; G. Inn 1713, called 1718. m. (1) Ursula, da. of Sir John Bridgeman, 3rd Bt., of Castle Bromwich, Warws., s.p.; (2) Susannah, da. of Edward Norris, s.p. suc. fa. to estates of Bridge House, Chester, Bodelwyddan, Flints. and Nantanog, Anglesey.
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Biography
After unsuccessfully contesting Chester as a Whig in 1722, Williams was returned in 1725 for Anglesey by the Bulkeleys, the leading Tory family in the county, probably on the recommendation of his first cousin, Watkin Williams Wynn, who considered him ‘the only person at present in Lord Bulkeley’s interest that can in all likelihood meet with success’.1 In 1727 the Bulkeleys again brought him in on the ground that he ‘had done such service that should be remembered by the county and family, and was preferable to any rival’.2 Voting with the Government in every recorded division, he spoke in March 1732 against a motion to make a holding in the funds as good a qualification for Parliament as land; in support of a bill invalidating the sale of the Derwentwater estate; and on 13 Feb. 1734 against a proposal to make officers not above the rank of colonel irremovable except by court martial.3 By voting for the excise bill he made himself so unpopular in Anglesey that in 1734, having lost the support of the Bulkeleys and Watkin Williams Wynn, he withdrew before the poll, once more contesting Chester unsuccessfully.
He died 14 Jan. 1742.
