Sir William Gleadowe-Newcomen, 1st Baronet (1741 – 21 August 1807) was an Anglo-Irish politician and banker.[1]
Born William Gleadowe, he assumed the additional surname and arms of Newcomen following his marriage to Charlotte Newcomen, only child and heiress of Edward Newcomen, on 17 October 1772. On 9 October 1781 he was created a baronet, of Carrickglass in the Baronetage of Ireland.[1]
Gleadowe-Newcomen was elected Company Secretary of the Royal Canal Company at its first meeting (13th November 1789).[2] His involvement in the enterprise is recalled in the naming of Newcomen Bridge which spans the Royal Canal at North Strand and was completed in 1793.[3]
He followed in his father's footsteps as a banker, running a private bank commonly known as Newcomen's Bank. The former bank building is considered to be one of Dublin's finest eighteenth century buildings.[4] [5] It was designed by Thomas Ivory in 1781.
Between 1790 and 1800 Gleadowe-Newcomen was the Member of Parliament for County Longford in the Irish House of Commons.[6] Following the Acts of Union 1800, he represented Longford in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom between 1801 and 1802.[1]
On 29 July 1800 Gleadowe-Newcomen's wife was created Baroness Newcomen in the Peerage of Ireland in honour of her husband, with the remainder to his male heirs.[1] Upon Gleadowe-Newcomen's death in 1807 he was succeeded by his son, Thomas Gleadowe-Newcomen. He also had three daughters, the eldest of whom, Teresa, married Sir Charles Turner of Kirkleatham. William Gleadowe-Newcomen is interred in a family tomb at Drumcondra Churchyard, as is his son Thomas.[1] [7]