Sir William Morley, JP (1606 – 1658) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

at various times between 1626 and 1642. He supported the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

cause in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. Morley was the son of John Morley, MP and Cecily Caryll, daughter of Sir Edward Caryll, and was educated at

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

. He was knighted at Titchfield on 4 September 1625,Profile: Knights of England
via archive.org. Accessed 6 January 2023. and the same year married Mary Heath, daughter of Sir

Robert Heath Sir Robert Heath (20 May 1575 – 30 August 1649) was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1625. Early life Heath was the son of Robert Heath, attorney, and Anne Posyer. He was educated at Tunbridge gra ...

, the attorney-general and an associate of his father, and his wife Margaret Miller. They had eight children, including William, the last male Morley of his line. He was returned to Parliament for

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

in February 1626; Richard Shilton, who had originally been elected, had chosen to take another seat. Morley's father-in-law, an influential figure in the town, was presumably responsible for the nomination. He did not return to Parliament at the end of his term, but remained a politically active figure, sitting as a commissioner on a number of bodies in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, Surrey and Sussex. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Surrey The list of known High Sheriffs of Surrey extends back to 1066. At various times the High Sheriff of Surrey was also High Sheriff of Sussex (1229–1231, 1232–1240, 1242–1567, 1571–1635). 1066–1228 (High Sheriffs of Surrey only) 1229– ...

and

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

for 1636, and sat as a Justice of the Peace from 1632 to 1644. Morley was elected for

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

in November 1640, but was disabled from sitting in Parliament in November 1642 as a royalist. Throughout the remainder of the

he "preserved a cautious neutrality". On his death in 1658, reportedly from cutting his throat, he was buried at Boxgrove. He was succeeded by his son William, whose daughter and heiress Mary married

James Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby James Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby (3 July 16641 February 1736), styled The Honourable until 1702, was a British peer, soldier and politician. He became Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard and served in the Scots Brigade, Anglo-Dutch Brigade. Ea ...

. He is sometimes confused with an uncle of the same name, who studied at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

and was living in Chichester by 1605.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morley, William 1606 births 1658 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple High sheriffs of Sussex High sheriffs of Surrey English justices of the peace English MPs 1626 English MPs 1640–1648 Suicides by sharp instrument in England Politicians who died by suicide