William Northey FRS (c. 1722 – 24 December 1770) 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. ...

from 1747 to 1770. He was the son of William Northey of Compton Basset, Wiltshire and his wife Abigail Webster, the daughter of

Sir Thomas Webster, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Webster, 1st Baronet (1679 – 30 May 1751), of Copped Hall, Essex, and Battle Abbey, Sussex, was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1705 and 1727. Webster was the elde ...

of Battle Abbey, Sussex. His father had been MP for

Calne Calne () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). at the northwestern extremity of the North Wessex Downs h ...

in 1713 and for

Wootton Bassett Royal Wootton Bassett , formerly Wootton Bassett, is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 11,043 in 2001, increasing to 11,385 in 2011. Situated in the north of the county, it lies to the west of the major ...

in 1714. John Burke ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain, Volume 4''
/ref> In 1747 Northey bought the prebend manor of Ivy House, near Chippenham, Wiltshire, which carried one of the two Parliamentary seats for Calne and was duly elected a

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 ...

(MP) for

on 27 June 1747, holding the seat until 1761. He was then elected MP for

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

, Kent on 28 March 1761 and held the seat until 18 March 1768. He was lastly elected MP for

Great Bedwyn Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun (River Kennet), River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough, Wilt ...

on 13 November 1768 and held the seat until his death in 1770. He was described as a leading and eloquent member of the opposition in parliament. Northey was a lieutenant-colonel in the Wiltshire county militia and one of the commissioners for trade. He became a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

on 21 June 1753. He was

Groom of the Chamber Groom of the Chamber was a position in the Household of the monarch in early modern England. Other ''Ancien Régime'' royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In France, the Duchy of Burgundy, and in Eng ...

to King George III. He was a Lord of Trade from 1770 until his death at Ivy House later that year. Northey had married twice: firstly Harriet (died 1750), the daughter of Robert Vyner of Gautby, Lincolnshire and secondly (in 1751) Anne Hopkins, daughter of

Edward Hopkins Edward Hopkins (1600 – March 1657) was an English colonist and politician and 2nd Governor of the Connecticut Colony. Active on both sides of the Atlantic, he was a founder of the New Haven and Connecticut colonies, serving seven one-year t ...

, MP, Secretary of State for Ireland. He had 3 sons and 4 daughters. His eldest son

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

also became an MP. His youngest son Richard changed his surname to Northey Hopkins. His four daughters died unmarried.

References

1722 births 1770 deaths Politicians from Wiltshire Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 Fellows of the Royal Society {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub