William Grenfell, 1st Baron Desborough
William Henry Grenfell, 1st Baron Desborough, was a British athlete, sportsman, public servant and politician. He sat in the House of Commons first for the Liberal Party and then for the Conservatives between 1880 and 1905 when he was raised to the peerage. He also was President of the Thames Conservancy Board for thirty-two years.
William Henry Grenfell in 1921
Desborough Cut on the River Thames, from one of the bridges.
Taplow Court, front view
The Thames Conservancy was a body responsible for the management of that river in England. It was founded in 1857 to replace the jurisdiction of the City of London up to Staines. Nine years later it took on the whole river from Cricklade in Wiltshire to the sea at Yantlet Creek on the Isle of Grain. Its territory was reduced when the Tideway was transferred to the Port of London Authority in 1909.
A boundary marker of the Thames Conservancy at grid reference TQ092664 about 100 metres upstream from the bridge at Walton-on-Thames.
The Victoria Embankment under construction in 1865
The waterworks buildings at Hampton
Weir, mill and walkway at Hambleden