WYVILL, Marmaduke (1815-1896), of Constable Burton, nr. Leyburn, Yorks.; 13 Chester Street, Grosvenor Place, London; later of Denton Park, Otley, Yorks.

The ‘strongest chessplayer who ever sat in the House of Commons’, Wyvill’s politics had a Whiggish hue, reflecting those of his electoral patron, the earl of Zetland, who controlled Richmond’s two seats.1The Independent, 5 Feb. 1996. He came from a long-established Yorkshire family, resident at Constable Burton since the sixteenth century, with a tradition of parliamentary service that included representing Richmond. His father and namesake had sat as Whig MP for York, 1820-30, while his grandfather, Reverend Christopher Wyvill (1740-1822), was the noted campaigner for parliamentary reform through the Yorkshire Association.2HP Commons, 1820-32, vii. 936.

After graduating from Cambridge, Wyvill was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn in November 1840, but was never called to the bar. He had made a marriage proposal to Florence Nightingale earlier that year, when he wrote that ‘trembling do I wait to hear that you will confide yourself to my care & allow me to become your protector and guardian’, but had been rejected.3M. Wyvill to Florence Nightingale, 25 Aug. [1840], cited in M. Bostridge, Florence Nightingale. The woman and her legend (2008), 73. She had met the Wyvill family at Nice in December 1837, when she described Wyvill and his brother Christopher as ‘very fair in their way’.4F. Nightingale to Marianne Nicholson, 20 Dec. [1837], cited in Ibid., 73. Having turned down Wyvill, who does not appear to have been ‘a serious contender’ for her hand,5Bostridge, Florence Nightingale, 73. she subsequently told her sister that she had heard ‘some things’ about him ‘which make me sorry for him, but glad for myself’.6F. Nightingale to Parthenope Nightingale, [Oct. 1840], cited in Ibid., 73.

Declining an approach from Richmond’s Liberals to offer at the 1841 election, Wyvill’s father instead put his son’s name forward. However, on learning that they were ‘not acting in concert with Lord Zetland’, he advised Wyvill to reject their overtures, and obligingly backed Zetland’s chosen candidates. In return, the earl made ‘a half promise’ that Wyvill junior might stand on a future occasion.7R. Fieldhouse & B. Jennings, A history of Richmond and Swaledale (1978), 423-5. This came to fruition in 1847, when Wyvill was returned unopposed alongside Henry Rich, citing ‘the great principles of liberty which his family have for centuries supported with unflinching hand, in times of difficulty and persecution’.8York Herald, 31 July 1847.

Described as ‘courteous, honest, straightforward, attentive to his Parliamentary duties, but no speaker’,9York Herald, 17 Oct. 1863. Wyvill was a moderate attender in his first Parliament, voting in 90 out of 219 divisions (41%) in the 1849 session.10Hampshire Telegraph, 20 Oct. 1849. He generally divided with the Liberal party, routinely supporting the removal of Jewish disabilities, backing the Catholic relief bill, 8 Dec. 1847, and entering the lobbies in support of free trade. He opposed Disraeli’s motions for relief to the agricultural interest, 15 Mar. 1849, 13 Feb. 1851. He divided for the ballot, 24 May 1849, 7 Mar. 1850, but voted against shorter parliaments, 11 July 1849, and Hume’s ‘Little Charter’, 6 July 1848, 28 Feb. 1850. He opposed Locke King’s bill to equalise the county and borough franchise, 2 Apr. 1851, but reversed this vote in the following session, 27 Apr. 1852. He rallied to support Palmerston’s foreign policy on the Don Pacifico question, 28 June 1850. Away from the House, Wyvill, who gave his name to the ‘Wyvill formation’, a chess position, was runner-up in the first ever international chess tournament held in London in 1851.11Morning Post, 1 Sept. 1873; D. Hooper and K. Whyld (eds.), The Oxford companion to chess (1996), 451-2. He also represented England in a match at Leamington in 1855, and served as president of the West Yorkshire Chess Association and on the standing committee of the British Chess Association.12Morning Post, 9 July 1855; The Era, 15 May 1859, 2 June 1861.

He was re-elected unopposed in 1852, when his seconder described him as ‘indefatigable in his duties’, but found fault with his vote for the militia bill, which Wyvill defended, as he believed the country was not safe without the militia. He declared himself ‘deeply interested in the state of the tenant farmers’, but argued that the remedy lay in agricultural improvement rather than protective legislation.13York Herald, 10 July 1852. Wyvill served on various private bill committees during the 1850s and 1860s. He also sat on the committees on the Tavistock and Cambridge election petitions, and on the 1856 committee on turnpike roads in the metropolis.14PP 1852-53 (227), xix. 155; PP 1857 sess. 2 (217), v. 443; PP 1856 (333), xiv. 82. He was, however, less attentive than before, voting in only 30% of divisions in the 1853 and 1856 sessions.15Daily News, 21 Sept. 1853; J.P. Gassiot, Third letter to J.A. Roebuck: with a full analysis of the divisions in the House of Commons during the last session of Parliament (1857), 23. When present, he continued to support the removal of Jewish disabilities, and also routinely divided for the Maynooth grant and the abolition of church rates. He rallied to ministers to vote against Roebuck’s motion for an inquiry into the state of the army before Sebastopol, 29 Jan. 1855, which his colleague Henry Rich backed, and also opposed Disraeli’s critical motion on the conduct of the Crimean war, 25 May 1855, and Roebuck’s censure motion, 19 July 1855. He was absent abroad when Cobden’s motion on the Canton question was debated, but paired for it, 3 Mar. 1857, in contrast with his colleague Rich, who conscientiously abstained.16Morning Post, 14 Mar. 1857; York Herald, 28 Mar. 1857. Wyvill emphasised his support for Palmerston on seeking re-election that year, when he was again spared a contest. He also voiced his opposition to church rates – ‘the time was come when every community should support its own religion’ – and, contrary to his earlier votes, to the ballot.17Hull Packet, 27 Mar. 1857; York Herald, 28 Mar. 1857. This reversal may have reflected the earl of Zetland’s distaste for the policy.18Fieldhouse & Jennings, History of Richmond and Swaledale, 425. Wyvill did express support for extending the franchise, but ‘would wish education and the franchise to go hand in hand’.19York Herald, 28 Mar. 1857.

In January 1858 Wyvill seconded a resolution passed by English residents and visitors at Pau voicing their thanks that the French emperor had escaped ‘the late diabolical attempt at the Grand Opera’.20Morning Post, 23 Jan. 1858. The following month he was in his place at Westminster to divide for the conspiracy to murder bill, 9 Feb. 1858, entering the opposite lobby from Rich, but he was absent from the critical vote on the second reading. He again supported the abolition of church rates, 8 June 1858. After over a decade as a silent member, he contributed to debate for the first time to support the Derby ministry’s reform bill, 31 Mar. 1859. He felt that this bill could usefully be amended in committee, and feared that its rejection would scupper the chances of reform that session. He also believed that any ‘large and comprehensive scheme’ which Russell or Palmerston might subsequently propose would not secure the backing of the House. Wyvill was one of 35 Liberal MPs to vote for the Conservative reform bill, although some Richmond inhabitants had urged him not to support the measure, fearing that it would cut the borough’s representation.21Leeds Mercury, 2 Apr. 1859; Fieldhouse & Jennings, History of Richmond and Swaledale, 425.

Wyvill remained loyal to the Liberals, however, following his unopposed re-election at Richmond later that year, endorsing the vote of no confidence in the Derby ministry, 10 June 1859. He again voted against church rates, and also backed the abolition of tests at Oxford University, 16 Mar. 1864, 14 June 1865. He opposed the ballot, 20 Mar. 1860, 21 June 1864, but voted for the county franchise bill, 13 Mar. 1861, 13 Apr. 1864, and for the borough franchise bill, 10 Apr. 1861, 11 May 1864, 8 May 1865. His only contribution to debate in this Parliament appears to have been a question on the equipment of the Fife artillery militia, 23 June 1863. At the 1865 election, the earl of Zetland wished to bring in his brother, John Charles Dundas, who had previously represented Richmond, and Wyvill dutifully made way.22Fieldhouse & Jennings, History of Richmond and Swaledale, 426.

Upon Dundas’s death in February 1866, Wyvill offered for the vacancy. Decried by one hostile observer as ‘the most undistinguished and most obsequious Whig partisan that ever placed his vote at the disposal of the whipper-in’, he faced a challenge from a more advanced Liberal.23The Standard, 1 Mar. 1866. On the hustings he declared that ‘he had never advocated extreme views. He had thought it more important to advocate real practical measures than to lead the electors away by the advocacy of fanciful theories’. He emphasised that he must be free to exercise his own judgement on reform, and that he wished to see the franchise extended without overwhelming the existing electorate. He professed to have no strong personal feeling about the ballot, but would vote against it, believing that the majority of people ‘had a repugnance’ to it. He favoured reform of the Irish church, but not disestablishment, and voiced his support for Gladstone’s fiscal policy.24Leeds Mercury, 6 Mar. 1866. Backed by the Zetland influence, he easily saw off his opponent.

Following his return, Wyvill wrote to ask his electoral patron how he should vote on the Liberal ministry’s reform bill. Zetland expressed a low opinion of it, fearing that it would lead to more sweeping changes, and that there was no public demand for reform, save for the disfranchisement of corrupt boroughs.25Fieldhouse & Jennings, History of Richmond and Swaledale, 427. Despite Zetland’s misgivings, however, Wyvill put his name to a requisition for a public meeting in the West Riding on the reform bill, which he divided for, 27 Apr. 1866.26Leeds Mercury, 27 Mar. 1866. Wyvill spoke in support of the appointment of a commission to investigate corruption at Bridgwater, 31 May 1866, his last known contribution to debate. He remained hostile to the ballot, dividing against it, 17 July 1866. The following year he declined an invitation to attend a meeting organised by the National Reform Union, believing that their programme went too far, but promised to support the Conservative reform bill.27Fieldhouse & Jennings, History of Richmond and Swaledale, 427. Unsurprisingly, given Richmond’s position as one of the smallest English boroughs, he voted against proposals to reduce the representation of small boroughs, 31 May, 3 June 1867, and corresponding moves to give extra seats to large boroughs, 17 June, 1 July 1867. He divided for Gladstone’s Irish church resolutions, 3 Apr. 1868.

Despite Wyvill’s efforts, Richmond lost one of its seats under the Second Reform Act, and Wyvill retired, leaving his colleague Sir Roundell Palmer to be re-elected at the 1868 election. Wyvill sent an address supporting Palmer, from which James Tomlin, the local Liberal agent, expunged some sections which he felt implied criticism of Gladstone. While this angered Wyvill, he did not publicise this quarrel, and ‘pliant to the last... faded out of Richmond politics’.28Ibid., 428. He gave his support to Isaac Holden as Liberal candidate for the Eastern division of the West Riding in 1868.29Morning Post, 18 Aug. 1868. Although Wyvill was later asked to contest York for the Liberals, he declined, and subsequently joined the Conservative party, formally resigning from the North Riding Liberal Association during the 1874 general election.30Fieldhouse & Jennings, History of Richmond and Swaledale, 428; D. Blythell, The fragility of rural Liberalism: parliamentary elections and party politics in Richmond (North Yorkshire), 1832 to 1929 (2003), 39n. He does not, however, appear to have been particularly active in public life after his retirement from the Commons, leaving that to his oldest son, who played a key part in the establishment of the Richmond Conservative Association in 1882.31Leeds Mercury, 4 Mar. 1882.

Wyvill succeeded to his father’s Yorkshire estates in 1872. He had earlier acquired Denton Park, near Otley, which passed to his wife on the death of her brother, Sir Charles Henry Ibbetson, in 1861.32R.G. Wilson, ‘Merchants and land: the Ibbetsons of Leeds and Denton, 1650-1850’, Northern History, xxiv (1988), 99. Wyvill was a claimant to the baronetcy of Scrope of Masham, which was in abeyance between his family and that of the late William Danby, of Swinton Park: Leeds Mercury, 27 June 1896. By 1883 he held 8,309 acres in the North and West Riding.33J. Bateman, The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland (4th edn., 1883), 492. He was a long-serving director of the Pelican Life Insurance Company.34The Times, 15 May 1866. Wyvill died at Bournemouth, where he had latterly been resident, in June 1896.35Yorkshire Herald, 27 June 1896. He bequeathed £1,000 to his widow, made generous provision for his surviving children, and left small legacies to his butler, coachman and housekeeper. His Yorkshire estates, along with £2,000, passed to his oldest son, Marmaduke D’Arcy Wyvill (1849-1918), who followed in his father’s footsteps and sat as Conservative MP for Otley, 1895-1900.36Morning Post, 23 Oct. 1896. The gross value of his personalty was £1,732 2s. 2d. Wyvill’s papers are held by the North Yorkshire County Record Office.