Sir William Curtis, 1st Baronet

Sir William Curtis, 1st Baronet as Bonnie Willie. George Cruikshank, 1822. Sir William Curtis, 1st Baronet (25 January 1752 – 18 January 1829) was an English merchant, banker, and politician. Although he had a long political and business career (the two significantly intertwined), he was probably best known for the banquets he hosted.

Life Born in Wapping, London, Curtis was the son of a sea biscuit manufacturer, Joseph Curtis, and his wife Mary Tennant. The family business was making ship's biscuit and other dry provisions for the Royal Navy. They were also shipowners whose vessels carried convicts to Australia and engaged in South Sea whaling.

A lifelong Tory, he was elected as a Member of Parliament for the City of London at the 1790 general election. He held the seat continuously for 28 years until his defeat at the 1818 general election. He was returned to the Commons in February 1819 at a by-election for Bletchingley, and at the 1820 general election he was returned again for the City of London. He resigned that seat later the same year.

Curtis died in 1829. His estate sale ran for a week, and included 370 dozen bottles of wine, port, claret, East India Madeira, sherry (Wild's), Malaga, Hock, and beer.