629:
87:
208:, who was deprived of his double post to provide places for Benson's brother. In accepting a government post he had to stand again for Parliament at Shaftesbury. He won the by-election on 21 November 1718 but was unseated on petition on 24 January 1719.
215:
noted that "Benson's surveyorship lasted for fifteen months, in the course of which he sacked his ablest subordinates, declared war on his closest colleagues, infuriated the
Treasury and finally brought down upon himself the wrath of the
820:
129:
of one storey, nine bays in length, with a pedimented portico over the three central bays. Above the simply framed windows isolated bas-relief tablets were inserted in the wall. Small windows in a low
185:, Hanover, borrowing Mr Holland's smith and foreman; they resulted in the largest fountain in the gardens. The main jet, expected to rise a hundred feet, merely spurted a disappointing ten.
299:
Benson died on 2 February 1754. He had four sons and three daughters by his first wife, and a son and daughter by his second wife
Elizabeth, whom he married after Eleanor's death in 1722.
257:(1587–1641); in the elaborate procession attending the Goddess Dulness, Benson appeared: "On two unequal crutches propt he came, Milton's on this, on that one Johnston's name" (
106:, a wealthy merchant of Bristol; and received from his father purchases of land in Wiltshire to the value of £5,000. The following February he rented the classical Caroline
162:, it was actually the invention of Mr Holland, the modest curate of Shaftesbury, but Benson took the credit, which resulted in his election as Whig Member of Parliament.
220:
for falsely insisting that their
Chamber was in imminent danger of collapse." The only lasting work produced under Benson's surveyorship was the suite of state rooms at
147:(1715, plates 51–52), credited to Benson as inventor and builder. Later, as Surveyor, Benson appointed the professional Campbell Deputy Surveyor and Chief Clerk.
268:. However, he only received four votes and thereupon cut off the water supply. In 1734 he sold Wilbury to his nephew Henry II Hoare and retired to a house in
800:
666:
170:
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and his partner as King's
Gardener. Benson was summoned and his peremptory letter was burned in his presence. (Quoted by W. R. Ward in a review of
753:
736:
686:
815:
181:
on a visit to
Hanover, where with "Water Engine" plans in hand, he gave directions for waterworks to be built for the Elector George at
805:
366:
772:
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444:(London, 1763), quoted in Carole Fry, "Spanning the Political Divide: Neo-Palladianism and the Early Eighteenth-Century Landscape"
227:
After he was relieved of his position in July 1719, in a flurry of satirical pamphlets, Benson involved himself in the creation of
59:, who was next in line to the British throne. He paid assiduous court and ingratiated himself with the Elector and his mother the
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32:
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Rhyme", can hardly have failed to catch Pope's eye, if the volume fell into his hands while he was revising his
24:
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basement lit service areas. Chimney stacks stood at the ends of the angled roofs. A central balustraded
72:
52:
67:, far from the usual beaten track. In London he published a Whig tract that offered a warning against
795:
790:
662:
197:
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28:
86:
580:
205:
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constructions currently afoot at
Herrenhausen, in 1707 he married Eleanor Earle, the daughter of
20:
137:
with a dome raised on columns crowned the elevation. In this manner
Wilbury was illustrated in
47:
in 1706–07, and his wife Martha Austin, daughter of John Austin, jeweller of London. He made a
624:
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60:
44:
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357:
250:
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Letters concerning
Poetical Translations, and Virgil's and Milton's Arts of Verse &c.
154:. His interests extended to hydraulics. He carried out a project to bring piped water to
586:
232:
217:
138:
784:
388:
212:
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As
Surveyor, Benson's months in office proved disastrous for the professional staff.
201:
115:
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722:
620:
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422:(Cambridge: Harvard University Press/Manchester:Manchester University Press) 1967:
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276:(1739), where his unlucky pronouncement (page 61) that "the principal Advantage
242:
237:
155:
119:
111:
68:
48:
228:
64:
552:
Quoted in George
Sherburn, "The Early Popularity of Milton's Minor Poems."
125:
Wilbury, the earliest example of neo-Palladianism in England, was a modest
83:; it reached its eleventh edition in 1711 and was translated into French.
331:
296:
which he had been promised in 1717, a position he held until his death.
51:
as a young man, which was extended to a prolonged visit in 1704–1706 to
528:
Benson informed the Treasury Lords that a certain Acres was to replace
821:
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
114:, on a twenty-one-year lease, and in 1709 he set to work designing
126:
85:
231:, designed by Campbell for Benson's brother-in-law, Henry Hoare.
63:, pressing unwanted gifts upon the Electress. He also went to
19:(1682 – 2 February 1754) was a talented amateur architect and
27:
from 1715 to 1719. In 1718, he arranged to displace the aged
608:
Wilton House and English Palladianism: Some Wiltshire Houses
519:
3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995, s.v. "William Benson".
573:
A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840
517:
A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840
314:
Mary Ransome, "The Press in the General Election of 1710"
200:. In achieving this appointment he had the assistance of
98:
Returning to London with fresh impressions of innovative
409:
Both Wilbury and Amesbury have been extensively altered.
264:
Benson stood for Parliament again at Shaftesbury at the
249:, 1737, then having turned and honoured with a bust by
122:, which he purchased that year from Hon. John Fiennes.
469:"BENSON, William (1682–1754), of Wilbury House, Wilts"
241:(III.321, IV.111–12) for having erected a monument to
498:
Hawksmoor's letter to Lord Carlisle (1725), noted in
35:, but his short time in that post was not a success.
158:; according to a memoir of the hydraulics engineer
43:Benson was the eldest son of Sir William Benson,
292:. In 1735 he took over the remunerative post of
253:, a distinctly minor writer of Latin verses, Dr
188:In 1717 he was offered in reversion the post of
595:. Vol. 4. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
8:
534:Calendar of Treasury Books, Vol. xxxii: 1718
343:It is the masterpiece of Jones' assistant,
638:
307:
272:. A product of Benson's retirement was
463:
461:
459:
457:
321:.2 (1939, pp. 209–221) p.214, note 31.
575:3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995.
451:.2 (Winter 2003, pp. 180–192) p. 181.
7:
118:for himself on a nearby property at
582:"Benson, William (1682-1754)"
579:Courtney, William Prideaux (1885).
442:A Course in Experimental Philosophy
420:The Architecture of Colen Campbell
367:National Heritage List for England
14:
630:Works by or about William Benson
592:Dictionary of National Biography
110:, Wiltshire, then attributed to
801:18th-century English architects
192:, and in 1718 he was appointed
769:Lewis Watson, 1st Baron Sondes
750:(in reversion from 1717) with
471:. History of Parliament Online
1:
538:The English Historical Review
713:Surveyor of the King's Works
606:Bold, John and John Reeves.
316:Cambridge Historical Journal
194:Surveyor of the King's Works
33:Surveyor of the King's Works
643:Parliament of Great Britain
160:John Theophilus Desaguliers
79:addressed transparently to
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816:High sheriffs of Wiltshire
559:.5 (September 1919), p 263
387:Fiennes was the father of
23:politician who sat in the
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729:
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543:No. 291 (April 1959:358).
362:"Wilbury House (1300348)"
152:High Sheriff of Wiltshire
150:In 1709 he was appointed
610:(London: H.M.S.O.) 1998.
391:(Fry 2003:191, note 13).
71:, and a polemic against
744:Auditor of the imprests
687:Sir Edward des Bouverie
621:Works by William Benson
294:Auditor of the Imprests
235:later ridiculed him in
190:Auditor of the Imprests
418:Howard E. Stutchbury,
177:. In 1716 he attended
95:
806:British MPs 1715–1722
266:1727 general election
175:1715 general election
144:Vitruvius Britannicus
92:Vitruvius Britannicus
89:
706:Sir Christopher Wren
663:Member of Parliament
198:Sir Christopher Wren
167:Member of Parliament
29:Sir Christopher Wren
165:Benson was elected
141:'s first volume of
698:Political offices
206:Nicholas Hawksmoor
96:
811:English surveyors
779:
778:
766:Succeeded by
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723:Sir Thomas Hewett
720:Succeeded by
684:Succeeded by
625:Project Gutenberg
247:Westminster Abbey
222:Kensington Palace
90:Wilbury House in
77:Letter to Sir J B
75:of kingship in a
45:Sheriff of London
828:
773:William Aislabie
759:William Aislabie
752:
730:Preceded by
703:Preceded by
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634:Internet Archive
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73:Divine Right
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16:
15:
796:1754 deaths
791:1682 births
667:Shaftesbury
652:Samuel Rush
506:(1959:245).
431:Colvin 1993
243:John Milton
238:The Dunciad
171:Shaftesbury
156:Shaftesbury
120:Newton Tony
112:Inigo Jones
57:the Elector
785:Categories
761:1737–1754
748:1735–1754
717:1718–1719
566:References
530:Henry Wise
131:rusticated
69:Jacobitism
49:Grand Tour
756:1735–1737
504:Hawksmoor
373:7 January
345:John Webb
280:has over
270:Wimbledon
229:Stourhead
135:belvedere
65:Stockholm
515:Colvin,
332:Orangery
286:Virgil's
179:George I
632:at the
589:(ed.).
290:Dunciad
259:Dunciad
173:at the
53:Hanover
676:With:
475:16 May
282:Milton
278:Virgil
94:, 1715
585:. In
303:Notes
127:villa
672:1715
665:for
477:2013
375:2016
169:for
39:Life
21:Whig
623:at
536:in
284:is
245:in
31:as
787::
557:17
541:74
502:,
456:^
449:31
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360:.
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319:6
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