Sir William Button, 1st Baronet (1584 – 16 January 1655) was an English landowner 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 ...

at various times between 1614 and 1629. He supported the

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cause in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. Button was the son of William Button, of

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario *Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...

and of Tockenham Court, Wiltshire, and his wife Jane Lambe, daughter of John Lambe, of East Coulston, Wiltshire. He matriculated at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

, on 13 February 1601, aged 16. He was knighted at

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

on 15 July 1605. From 1611 to 1612 he was

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...

. In 1614, 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

Morpeth Morpeth may refer to: *Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia ** Electoral district of Morpeth, a former electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales * Morpeth, Ontario, Canada * Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK ** Morpeth (UK ...

. He was possibly admitted to

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on 2 February 1618. He was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

on 18 March 1622. In 1628 he was elected MP for

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. He supported the king in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and was fined £2,880 on 2 January 1647.George E. Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Vol. 1'' (1900)
/ref> The family owned properties in Wiltshire at Alton Priors, Lyneham,

Tockenham Tockenham is a village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England. The village is about east of Lyneham and southwest of the town of Royal Wootton Bassett. The parish includes the hamlet of Tockenham Wick. Roman villa A Roman villa a short ...

and

North Wraxall North Wraxall is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about west of Chippenham, just north of the A420 road between Chippenham and Bristol. The parish includes the village of Ford and the hamlets of Upper Wraxall, ...

. Among his properties was Tockenham Court manor (then in Lyneham, now in Tockenham parish); his residence there was looted by Parliamentary troops in 1643 and 1644. Button died in 1655 and was buried at North Wraxall where there is a monumental inscription to his memory. Button married in 1611 or earlier Ruth Dunch, daughter of Walter Dunch of

Avebury Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in ...

, Wiltshire. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son William.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Button, William 1584 births 1655 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Cavaliers Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford High Sheriffs of Wiltshire People from Morpeth, Northumberland English MPs 1614 English MPs 1628–1629 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Wiltshire