Sir William Goodenough Hayter, 1st Baronet, PC, QC (28 January 1792 – 26 December 1878) was a British barrister and Whig politician.
[1][3] In 1839 he voted for the repeal of the Corn Laws alongside Charles Pelham Villiers, and was present at all the divisions in favour of free trade.
[1] Hayter was sworn of the Privy Council on 11 February 1848[1][4] and created a Baronet, of South Hill Park in the County of Berkshire, on 19 April 1858.
According to the Dictionary of National Biography, "his farm, Lindsay, near Leighton, Buckinghamshire, was kept in the highest state of cultivation, and was a model of economy and profitable management".
During 1878 he fell into a depressed state of mind, and on 26 December was found drowned in a small lake in the grounds of his residence, South Hill Park, Easthampstead, Berkshire, aged 86.