William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, Viscount Milton

William Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam, Viscount Milton, was born on 18 January 1812. He was the eldest son of Charles Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, Viscount Milton, and Mary Dundas, daughter of Thomas Dundas, 1st Baron Dundas. Wentworth-FitzWilliam was the fourth child in his family.

He received education at Eton College and subsequently attended Trinity College, Cambridge. During his time at university, he supported his father’s political campaign during the 1831 general election at Northamptonshire. At that time, his father had retired from Parliament following the death of his wife and had accepted a nomination but chose not to campaign actively. William Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam represented his father at the hustings, which helped raise his profile in political circles.

In the 1832 general election, Wentworth-FitzWilliam was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Malton. This constituency had previously been represented by his father in the 1806–1807 Parliament. He was aligned with the Whig party, similar to his father. Ten days after the start of the parliamentary session, his grandfather, George FitzWilliam, 4th Earl FitzWilliam, died, and his father inherited the earldom. Consequently, his father moved to the House of Lords, creating a vacancy in his North Northamptonshire seat.

Following this, Wentworth-FitzWilliam chose to contest the more prominent county seat of North Northamptonshire. He was elected there in a by-election in early 1833 and was re-elected in the general election of 1835. He served as MP for North Northamptonshire until his death.

William Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam died of typhus on 8 November 1835 at the age of 23. At the time of his election, he was only 20 years old, which was below the legal age of 21 to serve in Parliament. However, attendance was permitted as it was understood he would reach the age of majority before Parliament assembled in January 1833. The minimum age of 21 had been established since 1695, and although it was common for minors to be elected in the eighteenth century, by the time of the 1832 Reform Act, such occurrences had become rare. He is believed to have been the only minor elected to Parliament after 1832 until Mhairi Black was elected in 2015 at age 20, following a legal change.

Wentworth-FitzWilliam's career highlights include being one of the youngest individuals to serve in the UK Parliament in the modern era. His parliamentary contributions are recorded in Hansard from 1803 to 2005.