William Neast (c. 1623 – c. 1670) 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 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. ...

in 1653 and in 1656. Neast was the son of William Neast of the Neast family of Chaceley, Worcestershire. He matriculated at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, on 27 August 1638 aged 15 and entered

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1640. He received a commission as captain of horse on 8 February 1651W R Williams ''Parliamentary History of the County of Gloucester''
/ref> In 1653, Neast 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

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

Barebone's Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the inst ...

. He was re-elected MP for Gloucestershire in 1656 for the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in t ...

. In 1662 he was removed from the Common Council of Tewkesbury. Neast married Elizabeth Atwood of Old Sodbury.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neast, William 1623 births 1670 deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple People from Gloucestershire English MPs 1653 (Barebones) English MPs 1656–1658