William Nathaniel Massey
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department | |
---|---|
In office 1855–1858 | |
Preceded by | William Cowper |
Succeeded by | Gathorne Hardy |
Personal details | |
Born | 3 June 1809 |
Died | 25 October 1881 (aged 72) |
William Nathaniel Massey (3 June 1809 – 25 October 1881) was a British barrister, author and Liberal Member of Parliament.
Early life
Massey studied law, being admitted as a student at the Inner Temple in November 1826, and was called to the bar in January 1844.[1] He married firstly in 1833, Frances Carleton, daughter of Rev John Orde. Massey practised on the Western Circuit and in 1852 was appointed recorder of Portsmouth and in 1855 of Plymouth.[1]
In politics
He first entered the
In January 1865 Massey left parliament to become a member of the
Later life
In 1869 Massey became chairman of the National Bank (later part of the Royal Bank of Scotland), a post he held for the rest of his life.[2] He was a member of the Athenaeum Club;[3] and was chairman of St John's Hospital for Diseases of the Skin. He died at his London home, 96 Portland Place, in October 1881.[1]
Works
Massey's major work was A History of England under George III, which was published in four volumes between 1855 and 1863, by J. W. Parker & Son. It was unfinished, and drew on research of Edward Hawke Locker on George II.[4] He also wrote:[1]
- Common Sense versus Common Law. London, Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1850.
Family
His first wife was Frances Carleton Orde (3 November 1806 – 11 July 1872) daughter of John Orde and Frances Carleton, and their son was
In 1880, shortly before his last illness, Massey married Helen Henrietta, youngest daughter of the late Patrick Grant, Esq., Sheriff-Clerk of Inverness.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Obituary". The Times. London. 27 October 1881. p. 9.
- ^ "William Massey, RBS Heritage Hub". Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- ISBN 9785871943618. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/18301. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ISBN 0-900178-27-2.