William Christie (Conservative politician)

William Langham Christie (31 May 1830 – 28 November 1913)[1] of Glyndebourne, Sussex, and Tapeley, North Devon, was a British Conservative Party politician.

Glyndebourne, Sussex

He was the son of Langham Christie, who had inherited Glyndebourne, the Sussex country house now famous for its music festival, after paying off a rival family claimant. William succeeded his father in 1861.

William was the grandson of Daniel Beat Christin, a Swiss of obscure origins who anglicised his surname to Christie on entering the service of the East India Company and who retired to England in the 1780s having made a sudden fortune and an advantageous marriage to the daughter of Sir Purbeck Langham which brought Glyndebourne into the Christin/Christie family.[2]

During the 1870s William made substantial alterations to Glyndebourne, adding a brick extension, ornate stonework and balustrading. In 1876 he engaged architect Ewan Christian to install bay windows and add decorative brickwork to give the house its current Jacobean appearance.[3]

He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewes at the 1874 general election, having unsuccessfully contested the seat in 1865 and 1868.[4] He was the first Conservative MP to represent Lewes in the House of Commons since Henry Fitzroy had died in 1860. Christie was re-elected in 1880, and retired from Parliament at the 1885 general election.[4]

Family
Tapeley Park, Devon

He married in 1855 Agnes Hamilton Clevland, who was heir to Tapeley Park in Devon, which the couple rebuilt with a "severe brick facade".

Their children were Augustus Langham Christie and Agnes Chichester Dixon-Hartland. Glyndebourne and Tapeley passed to John Christie, the son of Augustus Langham.

References
  1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
  2. "Country House Rescue: Tapeley Park, Devon". The Country Seat. 13 March 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  3. "Glyndebourne". Openbuildings. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  4. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 184. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.


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