Charles Western, 1st Baron Western

Charles Callis Western, 1st Baron Western (9 August 1767 – 4 November 1844), was a British landowner and Whig politician. He sat in the House of Commons for over forty years before his elevation to the peerage in 1833.

Background and education

Born at the family seat of Rivenhall Place in Essex, Western was the son of Charles Western and Frances Shirley, daughter and heiress of William Bolland. His father was killed in a chaise accident when Western was four-years-old, in which he was also present. He was educated at Newcombe's School in Hackney, Eton and Queens' College, Cambridge. When coming of age in 1788, he inherited Rivenhall Place, which had been in the Western family since the second half of the 17th century The latter year he was returned for Essex, a seat he held until the constituency was abolished in the Reform Act 1832. In Parliament he was a supporter of agricultural and electoral reform.

Personal life Lord Western never married and the title became extinct on his death at Felix Hall in November 1844, aged 77. He entailed his estates to his cousin Thomas Western, who was created a Baronet of Rivenhall in 1864.