Sir William Forester KB (10 December 1655 – February 1718), of Dothill Park, Apley Castle, and Watling Street in

Wellington, Shropshire Wellington is a market town in Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It is situated 4 miles (6 km) northwest of central Telford and 12 miles (19 km) east of Shrewsbury. The summit of The Wrekin lies 3 miles southwest of the town. The ...

was a Whig politician who sat in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and British House of Commons between 1679 and 1715. Forester was the eldest surviving son of Francis Forester of Dothill and his wife Lady Mary Newport, daughter of

Richard Newport, 1st Baron Newport Richard Newport, 1st Baron Newport (7 May 1587 – 8 February 1651). was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1629. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War and was ...

, of High Ercall, and widow of John Steventon of Dothill Park. He entered

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

in 1673 and graduated as MA in 1675. He succeeded to Dothill Park in about 1675 under the will of his half-brother Richard Steventon (died 1659) and this became the main family seat at least until his grandson obtained Willey Park by marrying the heiress of

George Weld George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

.'Wellington: Manors and other estates', ''A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 11: Telford'' (1985), pp. 215–221
Shropshire manor
Date accessed: 20 May 2008. Forester was

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 the borough constituency of Wenlock from 1679 to 1685. In 1683 he was almost implicated in the

Rye House Plot The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and heir to the throne) James, Duke of York. The royal party went from Westminster to Newmarket to see horse races and were expected to make the ...

against Charles II, when a search revealed 50 muskets and pike heads were found hidden in an oven, and a large quantity of

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

buried on his estate. He paid off a heavy fine, allegedly helped by selling off valuable timber grown on the

Wrekin The Wrekin is a hill in east Shropshire, England. It is located some five miles (8 km) west of Telford, on the border between the unitary authorities of Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. Rising above the Shropshire Plain to a height of 4 ...

. He was an opponent of Charles' successor James II, suffering a spell of imprisonment in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

after the Monmouth Rebellion, and being exiled in Holland until he returned to England accompanying William III in 1688. He was invested as a Knight Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in 1689. He was returned as MP for Wenlock at the 1689 English general election and was granted a sinecure place as

Clerk of the Green Cloth The Clerk of the Green Cloth was a position in the British Royal Household. The clerk acted as secretary of the Board of Green Cloth, and was therefore responsible for organising royal journeys and assisting in the administration of the Royal ...

in 1689, which he held to 1717. He was returned for Wenlock again at the

1690 English general election The 1690 English general election occurred after the dissolution of the Convention Parliament summoned in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution, and saw the partisan feuds in that parliament continue in the constituencies. The Tories made signi ...

and sat until 1715. In May 1695, Forester fought a duel against fellow MP, Colonel Beaumont (who disarmed Forester), over accusations made in the House of Commons. In August 1703 he was one of the commissioners sent by Queen Anne to receive the Archduke Charles of Austria at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. He married, in 1684, Mary daughter of James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, with whom he had two sons and three daughters. One son was another William Forester who also sat for Wenlock, while one of his daughters, Mary, married

Sir George Downing, 3rd Baronet Sir George Downing, 3rd Baronet (baptised 24 October 1685 – 10 June 1749) was a British landowner and inititially Tory, but later Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1710 and 1749. Through a donation in his will, he was t ...

(the latter, nephew of his wife, having been brought up in Forester's household).
History of Parliament Online article on Sir George Downing. Forester died in 1718 aged 62 and was buried at Wellington.

References

*''Burkes Peerage'' (1939 edition). {{DEFAULTSORT:Forester, William, Sir 1655 births 1718 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies People from Wellington, Shropshire English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge