Samuel Charles Whitbread

Samuel Charles Whitbread (16 February 1796 – 27 May 1879) was a British Member of Parliament, member of the Whitbread brewing family and founding president of the Royal Meteorological Society. Early life and education Whitbread was the son of Samuel Whitbread and Lady Elizabeth Grey. Grey was the daughter of General Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey and sister of Prime Minister Charles Grey. He was educated at Eton College and St John's College, Cambridge where he studied mathematics, moral philosophy and classics. On 6 July 1815, Whitbread's father took his own life, whereupon his two sons, William Henry (then aged 20) and Samual Charles (19), inherited the family business and estates. Politics As a Whig MP, he represented the constituency of Middlesex (1820–1830) and was High Sheriff of Bedfordshire in 1831. He made three major contributions to debates including to the Reform of Parliament debate, where he opposed the existence of rotten boroughs and the selling of seats in the House of Commons.