DEEDES, William (1761-1834), of Sandling, nr. Hythe, Kent.

In 1807 Deedes responded to a late invitation from ‘a very numerous body of the freeman’ to contest Hythe, which lay close to his main estate. Recommended by Sir Philip Hales of Bekesbourne, a groom of the bedchamber, as ‘a gentleman whose discharge of his duties as a magistrate and country gentleman entitled him to support’, he gained second place in the poll after a contest.Kentish Chron. 5, 8 May 1807. He is not known to have opposed the Portland government and voted with the Perceval ministry on the address, 23 Jan., and the Scheldt expedition, 30 Mar. 1810, shortly after the Whigs had listed him under ‘Government’. He voted against the release of John Gale Jones, 16 Apr., sinecure reductions, 17 May, and parliamentary reform, 21 May 1810. His only other recorded vote was with the ministerial minority on the sinecure offices bill, 4 May 1812. He is not known to have spoken in the House.

The Whig Lord Thanet reported to Lord Holland, 30 Sept. 1812, that Deedes ‘is a rich man but I have heard from pretty good authority he would not spend money. He is Tory and anti-Catholic to the bone, in other respects not popular.’Add. 51571. As Thanet predicted, Deedes retired from Hythe at the dissolution and he is not known to have made any attempt to regain the seat. He died 19 Apr. 1834.Kentish Chron. 29 Apr. 1834.