William Evelyn Denison

Captain William Evelyn Denison DL, JP (25 February 1843 – 24 September 1916){{Rayment-hc|n|3|date=March 2012}} was a British Army officer and a Conservative Party politician. He owned an estate in Ossington, Nottinghamshire where he held several local offices as well as sitting in the House of Commons from 1874 to 1880.

Early life

Denison was the eldest son of Sir William T. Denison (1804–71), a British colonial governor and brother of Speaker Evelyn Denison.{{cite news

|title=New Members

|date=20 February 1874

|work=The Times

|page=5, col C

|location=London

}} His mother was Caroline née Hornby, daughter of Admiral Sir Phipps Hornby. At the age of 3, he moved to Van Diemen's Land, where his father had been appointed Lieutenant-Governor.{{cite web

|url=http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/collectionsindepth/family/denison/biographies/biographyofwilliamevelyndenison%281843-1916%29.aspx

|title=Biography of William Evelyn Denison (1843-1916)

|work=Manuscripts and Special Collections

|publisher=University of Nottingham

|accessdate=15 November 2010

}} In 1854, Sir William was promoted to Governor of New South Wales, and the family moved to Sydney.

William was educated at Eton and then at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. In February 1864, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery,{{London Gazette

|issue= 22820

|date=16 February 1864

|page=734

}} and in September 1876, he was promoted to the rank of captain.{{London Gazette

|issue= 24366

|date=22 September 1876

|page=5159

}} He retired from the Royal Artillery in 1878.

Political career

Denison was elected at the 1874 general election as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Nottingham,{{London Gazette

|issue= 24063

|date=6 February 1874

|page=543

}} when the Conservatives took both the city's parliamentary seats from the Liberals.{{cite book

|last=Craig

|first=F. W. S.

|author-link= F. W. S. Craig

|title=British parliamentary election results 1832–1885

|orig-year=1977

|edition= 2nd

|year=1989

|publisher= Parliamentary Research Services

|location=Chichester

|isbn= 0-900178-26-4

|page=230

}} Denison did not stand again in Nottingham at the 1880 general election, having been asked instead{{cite news

|title=Election Intelligence. Nottingham

|date=6 May 1878

|work=The Times

|page=6, col E

|location=London

}} to contest the Northern division of Nottinghamshire, where he was unsuccessful.Craig, page 439

He was appointed as Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire in March 1875.{{London Gazette

|issue= 24189

|date=12 March 1875

|page=1583

}} He was nominated as a High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in November 1892,{{London Gazette

|issue= 26345

|date=15 November 1892

|pages=6397–6398

}} and again in November 1894,{{London Gazette

|issue= 26570

|date=13 November 1894

|pages=6343–6344

}} and appointed to the post in March 1895.{{London Gazette

|issue=26606

|date=12 March 1895

|page=1455

}}

Denison was also a county magistrate (Justice of the Peace), chairman of the bench of magistrates at Newark, and an Alderman of Nottinghamshire County Council.

Cricket

Denison was a member of the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, of which he was president in 1891. The following year he was president of the Marylebone Cricket Club.

Residence

When his uncle Viscount Ossington died childless in 1873, Denison inherited the Ossington Hall estate.{{cite web

|url=http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/tts/tts1902/autumn/ossington2.htm

|title=Ossington (part 2)

|last=Nicholson

|first=Andy

|work=Nottinmghamshire History

|accessdate=15 November 2010

}} On his own death in 1916, the estates passed to his son William Frank Evelyn Denison, who died two years later, when the estates reverted to Lady Elinor Denison, widow of W.E Denison.