Born at the family seat Rivenhall, Essex, Western was the son of Charles Western, and Frances Shirley, daughter and heiress of William Bolland. His father was killed in a chaise accident when Western was four-years-old, in which he was also present.
He was educated at Newcombe"s School in Hackney, Eton and Queen"s College, Cambridge.
He sat in the House of Commons for over forty years before his elevation to the peerage in 1833. When coming of age in 1788 he inherited the Rivenhall estate, which had been in the Western family since the second half of the 17th century, and commissioned Humphrey Repton to give the Tudor house a new facade. Western was returned to parliament as one of two representatives for Maldon in 1790, a seat he held until 1806, when he was defeated by Benjamin Gaskell.
However, Gaskell was unseated on petition the following year and Western was elected in his place.
He continued to represent the constituency until 1812. The latter year he was returned for Essex, a seat he held until the constituency was abolished in the Great Reform Acting of 1832.
In parliament he was a supporter of agricultural and electoral reform. He lost his seat at the 1832 general election but the following year he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Western, of Rivenhall in the County of Essex.
1st United Kingdom Parliament. 2nd United Kingdom Parliament. 4th United Kingdom Parliament.
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17th Parliament of Great Britain. 18th Parliament of Great Britain.
