William Harrison (baptised 1619 – 1643). The identification there is "doubtless". was an English Member of Parliament and Royalist soldier. He was the son of

Sir John Harrison Sir John Harrison (c. 1590 – 28 September 1669) of Balls Park, Hertfordshire was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1640 and 1669. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War. Public life Ha ...

, by his first wife, and sister of the memoirist

Ann, Lady Fanshawe Ann Fanshawe, Lady Fanshawe (25 March 1625 – 20 January 1680) was an English memoirist and cookery author. Her recipe for ice cream is thought to be the earliest recorded in Europe. Early life and education Ann (or Anne) Harrison was born on 2 ...

. He graduated from

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

early in 1638, having been there about a year since matriculation, and having joined Gray's Inn in October 1637. His sister recorded his selection (for ) "around 1641" at the beginning of the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

. Queenborough on the coast of Kent was a

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...

in the fashion of the 17th century: one of its MPs would be nominated, by the normal convention, by the future

Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke and 1st Earl of Montgomery, (10 October 158423 January 1650) was an English courtier, nobleman, and politician active during the reigns of James I and Charles I. Philip and his older brother William were ...

, from 1616, as Constable of the Castle. Harrison was quite prominent in the first session of the Long Parliament, as noted by

Simonds D'Ewes Sir Simonds d'Ewes, 1st Baronet (18 December 1602 – 18 April 1650) was an English antiquary and politician. He was bred for the bar, was a member of the Long Parliament and left notes on its transactions. D'Ewes took the Puritan side in the Civ ...

. His father, an important financier, agreed to give up £50,000 to the parliament, and Harrison was nominated to receive it. When

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...

went to

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

in August 1642, to raise the

Royal Standard In heraldry and vexillology, a heraldic flag is a flag containing coats of arms, heraldic badges, or other devices used for personal identification. Heraldic flags include banners, standards, pennons and their variants, gonfalons, guidons, an ...

—the event that marked the outbreak of the

First English Civil War The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They include the Bishops' Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Second English Civil War, the Anglo ...

—Harrison accompanied him. Parliament retaliated against his father. On 24 June 1643 Harrison was expelled from the House of Commons. Days later, he died of an injury caused by a fall with his horse, in Oxfordshire, in a skirmish with parliamentary forces under the

Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...

. He was buried in Exeter College Chapel, according to his sister's memoirs; but in the church of St Peter the Great, according to the editor of the 1907 edition.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, William Year of birth missing 1643 deaths Cavaliers English MPs 1640–1648