CHRONICLE. 



481 



ley, esq. of Nether-hall, near Don- 

 caster, CO. York. 



At his house in Piccadilly, aged 

 84, sir William Johnstone Pultoney, 

 bart. of Westerhall, in Scotland, 

 M. P. in seven successive parlia- 

 ments for the town of Shrevrsbury. 

 He had been in a very dangerous 

 state for several days past, and un- 

 derwent a surgical operation, which, 

 though well and scientifically exe- 

 cuted, ended in a mortification, and 

 occasioned his death, of the ap- 

 proach of which he was so sensible, 

 as to predi<5l almost the hour of his 

 decease. His name was originally 

 Johnstone, and he formerly prac- 

 tised at the Scotch bar. As a poli- 

 tician he was upright and honest, 

 and had long ranked as one of the 

 most impartial and sensible members 

 of the independent part of the house 

 of commons, wherein he was an 

 useful and intelligent speaker. His 

 language was plain and unadorned ; 

 but he always expressed himself 

 with clearness and precision. He 

 possessed a sound understanding, 

 and his opinion was always received 

 in the house with respectful atten- 

 tion. As a public man, no commoner 

 understood the constitution of his 

 country better, or more uniformly 

 supported it by his conduct. In 

 private life he was remarked princi- 

 pally foe his frugal habits, Avhich 

 were, perhaps, the more striking, as 

 he was supposed to be the richest 

 commoner in the kingdom. His 

 funded property amounted to near 

 two millions sterling; and he was 

 the greatest A^mcrican stockholder 

 eyer known. It is well known that 

 he had the greatest borough interest 

 of any gentleman in the country, 

 and of course his friendship was 

 courted by all parties. In the lat- 



VoL. XLVIl. 



ter part of his life he was remarka- 

 ble for his abstemious manner of 

 living, his food being composed of 

 the most simple nourishment, prin- 

 cipally bread and milk. In the 

 apartment wherein he generally re- 

 sided very little fire was used ; not 

 from a motive of occonomy, but 

 because, as he himself declared, he 

 found his health bettered by it. Sir 

 William's character has been much 

 mistaken by the world ; he was not 

 the prototype of old Elwes, but was 

 penurious only in regard to himself, 

 as it is well knoMn that all his ser- 

 vants enjoyed camforts unusual in 

 most other families. By his mar- 

 riage with the heiress of the house 

 of Pulteney, he became possessed of 

 a very large fortune, and took the 

 family-name of Pulteney. lie mar- 

 ried, secondly, within these two or 

 three years past, the widow of the 

 celebrated Andrew Stuart. Sir Wil- 

 liam has left one daughter by his 

 first marriage, Henrietta Laura, the 

 present countess of Bath, who is 

 married to sir James Murray, of 

 Hilton, in Scotland, who also there- 

 upon took the name of Pulteney, 

 and is now supposed to be one of 

 the richest men in the kingdom. — 

 Lady P.'s marriage-settlement was 

 10,0001. per annum. In the event 

 of no will being discovered, the 

 widow will enjoy one-third of his 

 personal property ; th.e principal 

 part of his Shropshire estates, to, 

 the amount of above 30,0001. per 

 annum, will fail to the ear! of Dar- 

 lington ; the rest of the Bath, and 

 his own unentailed property, of 

 course devolve on the countess of 

 Bath. He is succeeded in his title, 

 and in all his entailed property, con^ 

 sisting of his Scotch and West-India 

 estates, of about 10,0001, pec an- 

 I i num. 



