Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 62.djvu/159

 was, however, much sought after for bust and monuments, though by far his best work lay in the chimney pieces and decorative sculpture which he executed, in conjunction with Cipriani, to adorn the architectural creations of Sir William Chambers. Among the eminent persons of whom he modelled busts were Lord-chancellor Bacon, Lord Camden, Admiral Holmes, Sir Isaac Newton, Dean Swift, the Earl of Chesterfield, General Wolfe, and the Earl of Chatham. The much-criticised monument to General Wolfe in Westminster Abbey was designed and modelled by Wilton, and there are other monuments by him in the some building. Wilton was less successful with the statues modelled by him, and two in London—those of George III at the Royal Exchange and of the same king in Berkeley Square, executed under Wilton's direction—had subsequently to be removed and superseded. After thirty years, as the taste for ornamental and monumental sculpture began to decline, Wilton sold his premises and property by auction in 1786, and retired into private life. He accepted, however, the post of keeper of the Royal Academy, and held it from 1790 until his death, which took place in his apartments as keeper on 25 Nov. 1803. He was buried at Wanstead in Essex. Wilton was a noted and popular figure in artistic and intellectual society, and his large private means enabled to play a leading part in society. Among his personal friends was [q. v.], who executed a fine portrait group of Wilton, Sir W. Chambers, and his Joshua Reynolds, which is now in the National Portrait Gallery. Wilton had an only daughter of great personal charm, who in 1774 married Sir [q. v.], chief justice of Bengal. A bust of Wilton by Roubillac was presented by Lady Chambers to the Royal Academy.



WILTON, WILLIAM (d. 1264), judge, had fines levied before him in 1247, acted as justice itinerant in 1248, 1249, and 1250, again in 1253, 1255, and 1259-61. In the intervals his name does not appear in the lists of justices. He seems to have been chief justice on 11 Dec. 1261, as be received the pay of that office, 100l. He was probably chief justice of the king's bench. He can be traced in the execution of the functions of the office till November 1263 (Excerpt. e Rot. Fin. ii. 407).

According to Rishanger (p. 28) he was slain at the battle of Lewes on the king's side (14 May 1264).



WILTSHIRE,. [See, 1351?–1399; , 1420–1461.]

WIMBLEDON,. [See, 1572–1638.]

WINCH, HUMPHREY (1555?–1625), judge, born in 1554 or 1555, was the younger son of John Winch (d. 1582) of Northill in Bedfordshire. He entered Lincoln's Inn on 19 July 1573 (Records of Lincoln's Inn, 1896, i. 80), and was called to the bar on 26 July 1581. In 1596 he became a bencher, and in August 1598 acted as autumn reader. In 1593 he represented the borough of Bedford in parliament, retaining his seat until his appointment to the office of chief baron of the exchequer in Ireland on 8 Nov. 1606. To qualify him for this appointment he was in the same year made a serjeant-at-law, and on 10 Nov. he was knighted (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1603-10, p. 334), On 8 Dec. 1608 he succeeded Sir (afterwards first Earl of Marlborough) [q. v.] as lord chief justice of the king's bench in Ireland, with a salary of 300l. a year. While following this office he earned the commendation of Bacon by his 'quickness, industry, and despatch' (, Works, ed. Spedding, Ellis, and Heath, xiii. 205). On 7 Nov. 1611 be was transferred to England and appointed a judge of the common pleas, a post which ha held till his death. In August 1613 he and three others were nominated on a commission to examine into the popular complaints in Ireland. In 1616 he and Sir [q. v.] fell into deserved disgrace for condemning and executing nine women as witches at the summer assizes at Leicester, on the evidence of a boy who pretended that he had been tormented by them. The king, while visiting the town a month later, examined the boy and detected the imposture (, Progresses of James I, iii. 192; Cal. State Papers, 1610-18, p. 398). In 1616, on the death of Sir [q. v.], he was appointed a referee of the patent for innkeepers' licenses, and on 6 Aug. 1623 he was appointed a member of the council of Wales, the king judging it 'fit that the justices of the four shires should belong thereto' (ib. 1623-5, p. 46). He was seized with apoplexy while in his robes, and died in Chancery Lane on