Matthew Ley (1545–1636) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

from 1597 to 1614. Ley was the second son of Henry Ley. In 1578 he and his brother

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

purchased the manor of Brembridge, near Westbury in Wiltshire, and he later acquired Heywood, north of Westbury. In 1597, he was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Westbury. He was re-elected in 1601 and in 1604, and again in 1614. In 1623 he succeeded to the property of his brother William. Ley married Margaret Foster, widow of Sir Humphrey Foster and daughter of Mr Barret of Essex, in 1602.

References

;Sources * 1545 births 1636 deaths English landowners People from Westbury, Wiltshire English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1614 {{17thC-England-MP-stub