Sir William Maurice (April 1552 – August 1622) was a Welsh 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. T ...

at various times between 1593 and 1611. Maurice was the son of Morys ap Ellis ap Morys, and grandson of Ellis ap Morris of Clennenau, his brother was captain Ellis Maurice fought for Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

in Ireland. He was one of the Council of the Marches of Wales. He was High Sheriff of Caernarvonshire in 1582 and

High Sheriff of Merionethshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Merionethshire (or Sheriffs of Meirionnydd). The historic county of Merioneth was originally created in 1284. The administrative county of Merioneth was created from the historic county under the Local Government Act ...

in 1591. In 1593, 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 o ...

for Carnarvonshire. He was High Sheriff of Carnarvonshire again in 1596. In 1597 he was re-elected MP for Carnarvonshire. In 1601 he was elected MP for

Beaumaris Beaumaris ( ; cy, Biwmares ) is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town of Anglesey. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from th ...

. He was a personal friend of James I, and induced him to assume the title of King of Great Britain. He was knighted at Whitehall on 23 July 1603. In 1604 he was elected MP for Carnarvonshire again. He was High Sheriff of Merionethshire again in 1606. He was of Clennenau and was probably constable of

Harlech Castle Harlech Castle ( cy, Castell Harlech; ) in Harlech, Gwynedd, Wales, is a Grade I listed medieval fortification built onto a rocky knoll close to the Irish Sea. It was built by Edward I during his invasion of Wales between 1282 and 1289 at t ...

. Maurice died at the age of 70 and was buried at Penmorfa. Maurice married firstly Margaret Lacon only daughter of John Wyn Lacon of Elanddyn and

Porkington Brogyntyn, or Porkington, is a mansion in the parish of Selatyn to the north-west of Oswestry in Shropshire, England. Brogyntyn Hall was the home of the Ormsby-Gore family from 1815, and had previously been the estate of their ancestors the Maur ...

. She died in 1572 and was buried at Selattyn on 18 February 1572. He married secondly Ellen Wis, widow of John Wis of Chwaen and daughter of Hugh ap Llewelyn. His third wife, whom he married between 6 June 1604 and 8 June 1605 was Jane Johnes widow of Sir Thomas Johnes of Abfrmarles and daughter of Rowland Puleston of Carnarvon. Maurice employed a tailor in Shrewsbury, John Langley. In 1594 he ordered clothing for his wife and daughter, including a

farthingale A farthingale is one of several structures used under Western European women's clothing in the 16th and 17th centuries to support the skirts in the desired shape and enlarge the lower half of the body. It originated in Spain in the fifteenth c ...

and farthingale sleeves.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maurice, William 1552 births 1622 deaths Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales High Sheriffs of Caernarvonshire High Sheriffs of Merionethshire 16th-century Welsh politicians 17th-century Welsh politicians English MPs 1593 English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 English MPs 1604–1611 Members of the Parliament of England for Beaumaris