William Oakeley (March 1635 – 1695) was an English landowner and 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. ...

at various times between 1659 and 1695. Oakeley was the eldest surviving son of

Richard Oakeley Richard Oakeley (died 1653) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1624. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War. Oakeley was of Oakeley, Shropshire and also held property in Montgomeryshire a ...

of Oakeley, Shropshire and his wife Mary Combes, daughter of Edward Combes of Fetter Lane, London. His father was MP for Bishops Castle in 1624, and acted as a royalist commissioner during the Civil War, which resulted in a fine of £460 for his delinquency. Oakeley attended

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

and

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 1651. He succeeded to property in Shropshire,

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire, also known as ''Maldwyn'' ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town"), is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county tow ...

and

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

on the death of his father in 1653. In 1659, 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 of ...

for

Bishop's Castle Bishop's Castle is a market town in the south west of Shropshire, England. According to the 2011 Census it had a population of 1,893. Bishop's Castle is east of the Wales-England border, about north-west of Ludlow and about south-west of ...

for the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a powe ...

. History of Parliament Online - William Oakeley
/ref> Oakeley was commissioner for assessment for Shropshire from January 1660 to 1680. In March 1660 he was commissioner for militia for Shropshire and North Wales and became J.P. for Shropshire and Montgomeryshire until 1687. Although he was appointed

Sheriff of Shropshire This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of Shropshire The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the high sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibili ...

in March 1660, he was not prevented from taking his seat in April 1660 when he was elected MP for Bishop's Castle again in the Convention Parliament. He was commissioner for assessment for Montgomeryshire from September 1660 to 1663. He was proposed for the order of

Knight of the Royal Oak The Knights of the Royal Oak was an intended order of chivalry in England. It was proposed in 1660 at the time of the restoration of Charles II of England to be a reward for those Englishmen who had faithfully and actively supported Charles dur ...

with an annual income of £800. He became a freeman of Ludlow in 1661; In 1661 he was re-elected MP for Bishop's Castle in the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

. He was

commissioner for loyal and indigent officers The Commissioners for loyal and indigent officers were a body formed by a 1662 Act of the Parliament of England (14 Car. 2 c. 8) to provide relief to impoverished Royalist officers who had served in the English Civil War. After the English Resto ...

in 1662, commissioner for corporations for Shropshire from 1662 to 1663 and commissioner for assessment for Oxfordshire from 1663 to 1680. From 1673 to 1680 he was commissioner for assessment for Montgomeryshire and was commissioner for recusants in 1675, In March 1679 he was re-elected MP for Bishop's Castle for the First Exclusion Parliament. He was a captain of the infantry militia by 1681 and was a major in the militia from about 1683 to 1686. He was commissioner for assessment for Shropshire and Oxfordshire from 1689 to 1690 and was reinstated as J.P. for Shropshire and Montgomeryshire from 1689 until his death. In 1690 he was elected MP for Bishop's Castle again. Oakeley died at the age of about 59 and was buried at Bishop's Castle on 31 January 1695. Oakeley married firstly under settlement dated 13 November 1663, Mary Waring daughter of Walter Waring of Owlbury,

Lydham Lydham is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. Lydham is situated on the junction of the A488 and the A489 main roads, about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Bishop's Castle. There is a market held on Fridays in the village ...

, Shropshire, and had a daughter. She died in 1680 and was buried on 27 September, Oakeley married again on 24 March 1681, Barbara Walcot, daughter of John Walcot of Walcot, Shropshire and had five sons and three daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oakeley, William 1635 births 1695 deaths English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1690–1695