William Thomas (c. 1630 – 1686) was an English lawyer 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. T ...

in 1660. Thomas was the son of George Thomas of

Savernake, Wiltshire Savernake is a civil parish immediately south and southeast of Marlborough in Wiltshire, England. The settlements in the parish are the hamlets of Cadley, Clench Common and Forest Hill. Savernake Forest covers the eastern half of the parish. ...

. He was a student 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 ...

in 1648 and was called to the bar in 1652. In 1656, he succeeded to the estates of his father. He was J.P. for Dorset from March 1660 until his death. In April 1660, Thomas 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 o ...

for Ludgershall. After a double return he took his seat in the Convention Parliament on 23 May. He was very active in parliament making 26 recorded speeches and serving on 33 committees, of which he took the chair in three. He expressed strong Anglican and Royalist views. He was proposed as one of the Knights of the Royal Oak, with an income of £600 p.a. He was commissioner for assessment for Dorset from August 1660 to 1674 and for Wiltshire from August 1660 to 1661. He became an ancient of his Inn in 1667 and an associate bencher in 1676. History of Parliament Online – William Thomas
/ref> Thomas died at the age of about 55 shortly before 6 September 1686. Thomas married firstly, in about 1654, Christian Withed, daughter of Richard Whithed a parliamentary colonel of Norman Court,

West Tytherley West Tytherley is a village and civil parish in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Stockbridge, which lies approximately 6 miles (10 km) north-east from the village, although its post town is Salisbury ...

, Hampshire and had a son. She died on 3 February 1655 and he married secondly on 31 March 1659, Dorothy Chettell, widow of Francis Chettel of

Blandford St Mary Blandford St Mary is a village and civil parish in the North Dorset district of Dorset, England. The village is on the south bank of the River Stour, immediately opposite the larger town of Blandford Forum. The village grew up around the Badger ...

, Dorset, who was a recruiter to the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

, and daughter of Thomas Tregonwell of Anderson, Dorset.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, William 1630 births 1686 deaths English MPs 1660 Members of Gray's Inn English lawyers 17th-century English lawyers