Sir William Essex, 1st Baronet (c. 1575 – c. 1645), was an English 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. ...

between 1597 and 1601. Essex was the son of Thomas Essex, of Bewcot,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, by Joan Harrison, daughter of Thomas Harrison.Burke, John & Burke, John Bernard. ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England''
page 187. He was a student of

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

in 1587. 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 of ...

for

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much large ...

. He was elected MP for

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

in 1601.History of Parliament Online – William Essex.
/ref> He was a J.P. for Berkshire from 1601. In 1611 he was created a baronet, of Bewcot in the County of Berkshire.George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Volume 1'' 1900
/ref> He managed to squander his substantial inheritance. During 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 ...

he was in command of a parliamentary company of foot in a regiment commanded by his son, Charles Essex. Sir William was taken prisoner at the

Battle of Edgehill The Battle of Edgehill (or Edge Hill) was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642. All attempts at constitutional compromise between K ...

in 1642 while his son was killed in action. Essex died probably in 1645 and the baronetcy became extinct. Essex married Jane Harcourt, daughter of Sir Walter Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

in 1593, having obtained a licence by trickery while he was still in wardship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Essex, William English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 Baronets in the Baronetage of England Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Stafford