William Burdett-Coutts

Who was William Burdett-Coutts?

William Lehman Ashmead Bartlett Burdett-Coutts, born William Lehman Ashmead-Bartlett, was an American-born British Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1921.

Ashmead-Bartlett was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States, the son of Ellis Bartlett of Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States, and his wife Sophia Ashmead, daughter of John King Ashmead of Philadelphia. All his grandparents were British subjects and he was the younger brother of Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett. After his father's death in 1852 the family moved to England, and he was educated at Torquay and at Cholmeley School Highgate. He entered Keble College, Oxford, in 1870. He owned the Columbia Market, and in connection with this, he built up a large fishing fleet in the North Sea, and a considerable trade in vegetables.

Ashmead-Bartlett was secretary to the philanthropist Baroness Burdett-Coutts. In 1877, he was Special Commissioner to Turkey to administer the Turkish Compassionate Fund, which had been initiated by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, and received the Collar and Star of the Medjidieh from the Sultan. In 1879–80, he visited Ireland to assist in organising relief in the distressed districts and largely developed Baroness Burdett's scheme for benefiting the Irish fisheries. He married the baroness, who was 37 years older than he was, on 12 February 1881 and took her surname. In 1883, he was on Executive Committee of the International Fisheries Exhibition. He was chairman of the Highgate Committee for enlarging Hampstead Heath.