WILLIAM WINDHAM

DASSIER, Jean: England, 1742, Bronze, 41 mm
Obv: Bust of Windham (r)    GULIELMUS WINDHAM ARMIGER.
Rev: Inscription within an ornamental frame decorated with masks above and below     OFFICII ET AUGURII CAUSA   FECIT I. DASSIER MDCCXLII. (Executed in 1742 by Jean Dassier in Homage and as an Omen of Good Fortune)
Ref: Med. Ill. ii, 570/205;  Eimer 84/571;  Eisler II, 143/16;  Weiss BW550

William Windham (1716-1761) was a member of a distinguished family in British political history.  He went to Geneva in 1738 where he formed a group consisting of several young Englishmen and his tutor, Benjamin Stillingfleet, a disciple of the English prelate and philosopher Bishop Edward Stillingfleet (1635-1699). Among other works, the latter Stillingfleet wrote Irenicum in 1659 which suggested a compromise between Episcopacy and Presbyterianism. Windham's son was the eminent British politician, also named William Windham (1750–1810). This younger William Windham was a friend of Edmund Burke, whom he assisted in the impeachment of Warren Hastings. The son served as Secretary for War from 1794 to 1801 under William Pitt, resigning with Pitt when the king prevented Catholic Emancipation.

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