William Forester (1690 – 12 November 1758), of Dothill in Wellington, Shropshire was an English landowner and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons in three Parliaments between 1715 and 1758.

Early life

Forester was the son of Sir William Forester of Dothill Park, Shropshire and his wife Lady Margaret Cecil, daughter of

James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, (1648 – June 1683), known as Viscount Cranborne from 1660 to 1668, was an English nobleman and politician. Biography Salisbury was the son of Charles Cecil, Viscount Cranborne, the son of William Cecil ...

. He married Catherine Brooke, the daughter and heiress of William Brooke of

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The well after which it was named was redisco ...

in 1714. The family had a significant political interest at Wenlock and members of the family represented the borough in Parliament over several centuries. Forester inherited the interest on the death of his father in 1718.

Career

At the

1715 general election Events For dates within Great Britain and the British Empire, as well as in the Russian Empire, the "old style" Julian calendar was used in 1715, and can be converted to the "new style" Gregorian calendar (adopted in the British Empire i ...

, Forester was returned unopposed as Whig Member of Parliament for

Wenlock Wenlock may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Little Wenlock, a village in Shropshire * Much Wenlock, a town in Shropshire ** (Much) Wenlock (UK Parliament constituency) ** Wenlock Priory, a 7th/12th-century monastery * Wenlock Basin, a canal basi ...

in succession to his father. He voted with the Government on all recorded occasions. During the crisis of the

South Sea Bubble South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

, he was found to have been credited with £1,000 stock, but could show that he had paid for it. He did not stand at the 1722 general election, nor in

1727 Events January–March * January 1 – (December 21, 1726 O.S.) Spain's ambassador to Great Britain demands that the British return Gibraltar after accusing Britain of violating the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Britain ...

when he returned his brother-in-law

John Sambrooke John Sambrooke (c.1692–1734) was a British merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1726 to 1734. Sambrooke was the third son of Sir Jeremy Sambrooke, merchant, of Bush Hill, near Enfield, Middlesex, and his wife Judith Vanac ...

. He was returned unopposed for Wenlock at the

1734 general election Events January– March * January 8 – Salzburgers, Lutherans who were expelled by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salzburg, Austria, in October 1731, set sail for the British Colony of Georgia in America. * February 16 – T ...

and voted consistently with the administration except when he abstained on the Spanish convention in 1739. He brought in his son

Brooke Brooke may refer to: People * Brooke (given name) * Brooke (surname) * Brooke baronets, families of baronets with the surname Brooke Places * Brooke, Norfolk, England * Brooke, Rutland, England * Brooke, Virginia, US * Brooke's Point, Palawan ...

in 1739 and did not stand at the

1741 general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

when he returned his son-in-law instead. Forester was returned unopposed again at the

1754 general election Events January–March * January 28 – Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word ''serendipity''. * February 22 – Expecting an attack by Portuguese-speaking militias in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Pla ...

, but does not appear to have spoken or voted in that Parliament.

Death and legacy

During his ownership of Dothill Park, Forester considerably enhanced the gardens.Parks and Gardens - Dothill Park
/ref> He died on 12 November 1758. He and his wife had four children: * Brooke Forester *Lt. Col. Cecil Forester *Mary who married

Sir Brian Broughton-Delves, 4th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

*Martha who married F. T. Blithe After Forester's death, the Dothill gardens reverted to grass and the estate went to ruin. The house was demolished in 1960 and the park built upon.

References

*''Burkes Peerage'' (1939 edition). 1690 births 1758 deaths People from Wellington, Shropshire Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1754–1761 {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub