William Duncombe, Viscount Helmsley

William Reginald Duncombe, known as Viscount Helmsley, was born on 1 August 1852. He was the son of William Duncombe, 1st Earl of Feversham, and his wife Mabel Violet Graham, who was the daughter of Sir James Graham, 2nd Baronet.

In 1874, Helmsley was elected to the British House of Commons as one of two representatives for the North Riding of Yorkshire. He retained this parliamentary seat until his death in 1881.

In 1876, he married Lady Muriel Frances Louisa, who was 17 years old at the time. She was the daughter of Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, the 19th Earl of Shrewsbury. The marriage produced two children: a son and a daughter. Lady Muriel later became active in the Garden City movement.

Their daughter was Lady Mabel Theresa Duncombe (1877–1913). In 1895, Mabel Theresa married Sir Gervase Beckett, 1st Baronet, as his first wife. She died in 1913. Their son, Charles William Reginald Duncombe, became the 2nd Earl of Feversham in 1916, upon his father's death, which took place in Madeira; he was aged 29 at the time.

Lady Muriel Duncombe remarried in 1885, marrying her sister-in-law, Lady Feversham, in 1917. She died in March 1925.

William Reginald Duncombe, Viscount Helmsley, died on 24 December 1881 at the age of 29 in Madeira. His parliamentary contributions are recorded in Hansard from 1803 to 2005.

References for this biographical information include Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990), Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages, and Darryl Lundy's "The Peerage" website.