GUISE, Sir William, 5th Bt. (1737-83), of Elmore and Rendcombe, Glos.

Gibbon met Guise at Lausanne in 1763, and found him ‘a very sensible well-bred man’.Gibbon to his stepmother, 18 June 1763. ‘He ... has seen a good deal of the world’, he wrote, ‘and without being a profound scholar is far from wanting either parts or knowledge.’Same to same, 7 Dec. 1763. Together they made the Grand Tour of Italy ‘in great harmony and good humour’,Gibbon to his fa., 4 June 1764. and their friendship continued after their return to England.

Guise, with the support of the Berkeley interest, represented Gloucestershire without a contest. In Parliament he voted against North’s Administration; the Public Ledger in 1779 describes him as ‘a very independent man’. He voted for Shelburne’s peace preliminaries, 18 Feb. 1783. Guise is only twice reported to have spoken in the House: on militia affairs, 25 Apr. 1780, and in favour of sending a relief fund to Barbados, 24 Jan. 1781.

He died 6 Apr. 1783.