Benn-Walsh, John, 1st Baron Ormathwaite (1798 -1881)

John Benn-Walsh was the son of Sir John Benn-Walsh, baronet. of Warfield Park in Berkshire and Ormathwaite in Cumberland, and Margaret, daughter of Joseph Fowke of Bexley, Kent. He was educated at Eton and matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, on 3rd December 1816. He entered Parliament for the borough of Sudbury in 1830, and represented the constituency as a Tory in three parliaments. An ardent politician and an able writer, he published several pamphlets on parliamentary reform. In January 1835, Sir John contested the county of Radnor and lost, but in 1840 was eventually returned as MP for the county which he afterwards represented for nearly twenty-eight years. As lord of the manor of Trewerne in Radnorshire and the owner of considerable property there, he was also JP for that county and High Sheriff in 1825 and, on 11th August 1842, was sworn in as Lord-Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of Radnorshire. Known as Sir John Walsh, Bt, between 1825 and 1868, on 16th April 1868, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Ormathwaite. He married, on 8th November 1825, Jane, youngest daughter of George Harry Grey, 6th Earl of Stamford & Warrington. By her, he had two sons and two daughters, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Arthur. Ormathwaite died at his seat, Warfield Park, near Bracknell in Berkshire, on 3rd February 1881.