BUTLER, William (1544-77), of Great Badminton, Glos.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. 1544, 1st surv. s. of Sir John Butler of Great Badminton by Sylvester, da. of John Gyes. m. Theophila, da. of Sir John Newtown of Barcourt, Som., 1s. 2da. suc. fa. 1552.

Offices Held

Biography

The identification of William Butler of Great Badminton with the man returned for Queenborough is speculative. He had no known connexion with the borough, but he had influential friends, including Thomas Throckmorton, Sir Nicholas Poyntz and Sir Richard Berkeley, and the date of his death tallies with that of the Queenborough Member, who was replaced in the 1581 session of this Parliament. Little has been discovered about Butler’s career. In 1557 he stood surety for his mother’s good behaviour toward the King and Queen, which suggests—as do the names of the overseers of his will, Throckmorton, Poyntz and Berkeley,—that he was a protestant. He possessed considerable property in Gloucestershire, including the manors of Badminton and Hawkesbury, most of which was mortgaged to his brother at the time of his death. He granted the lands to his executors for the performance of his will, afterwards to revert to his son Nicholas. Apart from bequests of £500 to each daughter and £200 to his sister Margaret, he left all his goods to his son. He died 5 Aug. 1577, but his will was not proved until 1586.

CPR, 1563-6, p. 196; Vis. Glos. (Harl. Soc. xxi), 241; Atkins, Glos. 126; APC, vi. 75; C142/181/95; PCC 62 Windsor.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: Roger Virgoe

Notes

  • 1. Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.