Charles Wyatt

Who was Charles Wyatt?

Charles Wyatt was an English architect and Member of Parliament for Sudbury, Suffolk.

He was the son of William Wyatt, nephew to the architects James Wyatt and Samuel Wyatt, and cousin to Sir Jeffry Wyattville. He joined the East India Company in 1780 as a cadet, sailing for India aboard the ship Mount Stewart on 27 June of the same year, but the ship was captured by the French and Spanish fleets and returned to England. His second attempt to reach India was successful, arriving in 1782. He joined the Bengal Engineers, eventually being promoted in 1800 to Captain and Commissioner of Police.

His opportunity to design buildings came in 1798 when The Marquess of Wellesley arrived in Calcutta as Governor-General and selected Wyatt to design the new Government House, Calcutta, which opened in 1803. The design was based on Kedleston Hall. Wyatt also designed alteration's to Wellesley's country residence at Barrackpore. In June 1803 he was made Superintendent of Public Works.

Having made a fortune in India, Wyatt retired in October 1806, buying a country villa just outside London called Ealing Grove, not far from Sir John Soane's villa at Pitzhanger Manor. He was elected as Tory MP for Sudbury, Suffolk in two successive parliaments, serving from 1812 to 1818.