William Plumer (c.1686-1767) was a British lawyer and Whig, 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 ...

intermittently between 1721 and 1761. Plumer was the second surviving son of John Plumer, a wealthy London merchant of Blakesware, Hertfordshire, and his wife Mary Hale, daughter of William Hale and his wife Mary Elwes of

Kings Walden King's Walden is a civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. The name includes an apostrophe, but this is often omitted. The main settlement is now Breachwood Green, and there are also the hamlets of King's Walden, Ley Green, Darley ...

, Hertfordshire and sister of the eminent judge

Sir Bernard Hale Sir Bernard Hale (1677–1729) was an English-born barrister and judge who became Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. Two of his sons became Generals in the British Army.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921'' London John Murray 1 ...

. His brothers were

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

and

Walter Plumer Walter Plumer (c. 1682–1746), of Cavendish Square and Chediston Hall, Suffolk, was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1719 and 1741. Early life Plumer was the eldest surviving son of John Plumer, a wealthy London ...

. He was educated at Bishop’s Stortford and was admitted at Peterhouse, Cambridge on 9 May 1702. In 1702, he was admitted at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

and was called to the bar in 1708. He succeeded to some of his father’s estates in 1719. Plumer was returned as

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 Yarmouth (Isle of Wight) at a by-election on 10 February 1721. He was brought in on the Treasury interest to replace Sir Theodore Janssen, who had been expelled over the South Sea Bubble and did not stand in

1722 Events January–March * January 27 – Daniel Defoe's novel ''Moll Flanders'' is published anonymously in London. * February 10 – The Battle of Cape Lopez begins off of the coast of West Africa (and present-day Gabon), a ...

. Plumer was out of Parliament for over ten years, but was politically active in supporting

Charles Caesar Sir Charles Caesar (27 January 1590 – 6 December 1642), of Benington in Hertfordshire, was an English judge who served as Master of the Rolls in the period leading up to the outbreak of the English Civil War; his father, Sir Julius Caesar, ...

at elections at Hertfordshire. He became a bencher of his Inn in 1728 and married Elizabeth Byde, daughter of Thomas Byde of Ware Park, Hertfordshire on 9 October 1731. At the 1734 Plumer was selected as a candidate for Hertfordshire at a meeting of county electors and was elected MP, defeating Caesar. There is no record of votes by Plumer although he was described as supporting the administration. He did not stand in the 1741 general election. Plumer succeeded to some of the estates of his brother Walter in 1746. He was returned as MP for Hertfordshire at a by-election on 1 May 1755 but did not stand again at the 1761 general election. Plumer died on 12 December 1767 and was buried at Eastwick, Hertfordshire. He and his wife had two sons and four daughters. He was succeeded by his 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 ...

who was also an MP.

References

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Plumer, Walter 1680s births 1767 deaths Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Members of Gray's Inn Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Hertfordshire British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1754–1761