William Wilshere (lawyer)

[1] He became attorney to Samuel Whitbread in 1780, beginning a long and close relationship as adviser and agent, which also saw him as a financial partner in the Whitbread brewery from 1801, when others including the banker Sir Benjamin Hobhouse were brought into the company.

[5][6] At the period of the French Revolution Wilshere was sufficiently concerned to fortify his house in Hitchin.

[9] Fulford speculates that this royal service may have damaged Wilshere's reputation among Whigs.

He testified to an 1817 House of Lords committee on the Poor Laws that he found it necessary to give relief without regard to whether the recipients were deserving, to save life.

His estate passed to William Wilshere the future Member of Parliament, the son of his brother Thomas, whom he had adopted[1][4][12] Wilshere's school at Hitchin, which started in an old malt house which he owned, was given purpose-built accommodation after his death.