Charles Wolfran Cornwall
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The Right Honourable Charles Wolfran Cornwall |
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Portrait by Thomas Gainsborough
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| Speaker of the British House of Commons | |
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In office 1780–1789 |
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| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | Fletcher Norton |
| Succeeded by | William Grenville |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
15 June 1735 Winchester |
| Died |
2 January 1789 (aged 53) London |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Jenkinson |
| Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
Charles Wolfran Cornwall (15 June 1735 – 2 January 1789) was a British politician who became Speaker of the House of Commons.
Charles Wolfran Cornwall was born on 15 June 1735, the only son of Jacobs Cornwall and Elizabeth Forder, and baptised at St Thomas' church in Winchester ten days later. His parents were third cousins, both being great-great-grandchildren of Humphrey Cornewall, and he was given the names of two other family members: his paternal grandfather Admiral Charles Cornewall and his maternal great-grandfather Captain Wolfran Cornewall. Jacobs Cornwall died the following year, on 8 August 1736.
Despite the naval associations of his namesakes, young Charles Wolfran was raised for a career in the law. He began his education at Winchester in 1748, going on to New College, Oxford. before started a legal training at Lincoln's Inn in 1755. In 1756, his uncle Sir Robert de Cornwall died childless, leaving him a considerable estate. Perhaps because of this inheritance, he does not appear to have had any considerable amount of legal practice, though he was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1757 and became a bencher there in 1770. Instead, he dedicated himself to politics.
Cornwall's entry into political life was aided by his connection with his cousin,Charles Jenkinson, an association to be much strengthened when he married Jenkinson's sister Elizabeth on 17 August 1764. In 1763 he wrote to his future brother-in-law: "A seat in Parliament is my first object, without that I would not choose to engage in any department of public business." However, he was persuaded instead to become a Commissioner for examining the German Accounts. Occupying this post from 1763 to 1765, he gained a good knowledge of Treasury procedures.
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