William Jesson (1580 – 1651) was an English dyer and politician who was active in local government in Coventry and 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 1640 and 1648. Jesson was the son of Richard Jesson of

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

and his wife Elizabeth Hill.Visitiation of London 1633, 1634
/ref> He became a wealthy dyer of Coventry and was admitted to the council 1628, becoming

mayor of Coventry The title Lord Mayor of Coventry was created on 3 June 1953 when the dignity was conferred on the city of Coventry, England by Letters Patent as part of the Coronation celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II. Prior to that Coventry had had a Mayor sin ...

in 1631 and an alderman from 1634. In 1640 Jesson purchased the Warwickshire manor of Nuthurst from Edward Trussell and it remained in the family until around 1754. In April 1640, Jesson 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

in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

. His uncle and fellow MP Simon Norton was also a dyer and together they helped defeat the aims of a Coventry weaver who petitioned Parliament against cloth from Gloucestershire being brought into the city for dyeing. Jesson was not elected immediately to 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 ...

in November 1640 but was brought in after the death of Norton in 1641. In 1647 Jesson successfully brought in a vote in parliament to de-garrison Coventry which had been under army and committee domination in the Civil War. He was excluded in 1648 under

Pride's Purge Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England. Despite defeat in the ...

.R. C. Richardson ''Town and countryside in the English Revolution''
/ref> Jesson married Elizabeth Barker, daughter of Alderman John Barker. Their eldest son William was also MP for Coventry in 1660. Their grandson was Sir William Jesson of

Burleigh Hall Burleigh Hall was a country house situated near Loughborough in the county of Leicestershire. Its land now forms part of the campus of Loughborough University. History An early reference to the Burleigh estate describes how during the March ...

, Loughborough.

References

External links

Jesson family tree
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jesson, William 1580 births 1651 deaths People from Coventry Place of birth missing Mayors of Coventry English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 Members of Parliament for Coventry