Sir William Verner, 1st Baronet

Sir William Verner, 1st Baronet, (25 October 1782 – 20 January 1871), was a British soldier who served in the Napoleonic Wars, was wounded at the Battle of Waterloo and resigned as a colonel. He served as a politician, including 36 years as a Member of Parliament. Two of his sons were also members of Parliament. Verner was made Knight Commander of the Hanoverian Order and a Baronet, and was Grand Master of Armagh and Orange Order of Ireland.

Early life William Verner was the son of Colonel James Verner, a Member of Parliament, and Jane Clarke. As a boy, he studied at Woodville, which overlooked Lucan, Dublin. He had the opportunity to attend Trinity College, Dublin, but preferred a career in the army.

Military Verner's interest in an army career began when he commanded the Churchill Yeomanry. At first, he was a staff officer under the Lord Lieutenant of Dublin in the 7th Queen's Own Hussars. He fought in the Peninsular War of the Napoleonic Wars at the Battle of Corunna under Sir John Moore in 1808–1809. He also fought at the Battle of the Pyrenees under the Duke of Wellington, in 1814 at the Battle of Orthes and the Battle of Toulouse, and in 1815 the Battle of Waterloo, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the 7th Queen's Own Hussars, under Lord Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey. Verner was wounded by a musket shot to the head at Waterloo

A supporter of the Protestant Orange Order, he was once struck off the Commission of the Peace by Lord Normanby for toasting the Battle of the Diamond at a public dinner in Ireland.

Personal life Marriage and family He married Harriet Wingfield, daughter of colonel the Hon. Edward Wingfield, younger son of The 3rd Viscount Powerscourt and Harriet Esther Westenra, on 19 October 1819. Since William was only 5 years old in 1788, his parents James and Jane moved into the home with their family and were guardians of the residence until 1807.

Eaton Square Verner met his wife in London and after they were married they bought a home there at 86 Eaton Square.