Sir William Williams, 1st Baronet, of Kars

Sir William Williams
William Fenwick Williams
Born	4 December 1800
Died	26 July 1883(1883-07-26) (aged 82)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Crimean War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

General Sir William Fenwick Williams, 1st Baronet GCB (4 December 1800 – 26 July 1883) was a British military leader of the Victorian era.

Early life

He was born in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, the second son of Commissary-General Thomas Williams, barrack-master at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was however widely rumoured to be the natural son of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn; this would make him Queen Victoria's half-brother.

Career

Through the interest of the Duke of Kent he was educated at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. He entered the Royal Artillery as second lieutenant in 1825. His services were lent to Turkey in 1841, and he was employed as a captain in the arsenal at Constantinople. He was British commissioner in the conferences preceding the treaty of Erzerum in 1847, and again in the settlement of the Ottoman-Iranian boundary in 1848 (brevet majority and lieutenant-colonelcy and CB).

Promoted colonel, he was British commissioner with the Turkish army in Anatolia in the Russian War of 1854–56, and, having been made a pasha (general/governor/lord) with the degree of ferik (major-general), he practically commanded the Turks during the defence of Kars, repulsing several Russian attacks and severely defeating the Russian general Muravyov in the siege of Kars (not to be confused with the Battle of Kars) on 29 September 1855. Cold, cholera, famine and hopelessness of succour from without, however, compelled Williams to make an honourable capitulation on 28 November following.

A baronetcy with pension for life, the KCB, the grand cross of the Legion of Honour and of the Turkish Medjidie, the freedom of the City of London with a sword of honour, and the honorary degree of DCL of Oxford University, were the distinctions conferred upon him for his valour.

Promoted major-general in November 1855 on his return from captivity in Russia, he held the Woolwich command, and represented the borough of Calne in parliament from 1856 to 1859.

From 1859 to 1864 he held the position of Commander in Chief, North America, and was responsible for preparations for war with the United States in the case that relations broke down. The most severe strain in relations occurring during the Trent Affair.

He became lieutenant-general and colonel-commandant Royal Artillery in 1864, general in 1868, commanded the forces in Canada from 1859 to 1865, held the governorship of Nova Scotia 1865–1867, and the governorship of Gibraltar 1870–1876. He was made GCB in 1871, and Constable of the Tower of London in 1881.

Later life

He died in London on 26 July 1883 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery.

Plaque honoring Sir William Fenwick Williams

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir William Williams

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Earl of Shelburne	Member of Parliament for Calne 1856–1859	Succeeded by Robert Lowe
Military offices
Preceded by Sir William Rowan	Commander-in-Chief, North America 1859	Succeeded by passed over to the Governor General of the Province of Canada Sir Edmund Walker Head
Government offices
Preceded by Lord Airey	Governor of Gibraltar 1870–1876	Succeeded by Lord Napier
Honorary titles
Preceded by Sir Charles Yorke	Constable of the Tower Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets 1881	Succeeded by Sir Richard James Dacres
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baronet (of Kars) 1856–1883	Extinct