Sir William Lowther (18 August 1639 – 7 December 1705) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

landowner and MP. He was the eldest son of Sir William Lowther of Swillington, near Leeds and educated 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 Balliol College, Oxford. He succeeded his father in 1688 and was knighted the same year. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Yorkshire The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere o ...

for 1681. He was commissioner for the

Aire and Calder Navigation The Aire and Calder Navigation is the canalised section of the Rivers Aire and Calder in West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Knottingley were completed in 1704 when the Aire was made navigable to Leeds and the ...

in 1699 and 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

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wak ...

in 1695, sitting until 1698. He died at Little Preston Hall near Leeds in 1705 and was buried at Kippax. He had married Catherine, the daughter of Thomas Harrison of Middlesex, and had ten children: * Sir William Lowther, 1st Baronet (1663–1729) *son, first apprenticed to a merchant, then joined the Army *son, first apprenticed to a merchant, then joined the Army *son, joined the Army *Richard Lowther, merchant, married successively the daughters of Sir Christopher Wandesford and Sir John Fenwick. *Christopher Lowther (d. 1718), merchant, of Little Preston, married Elizabeth Maude and had issue *Gerard Lowther, lawyer, d.v.p. age 23 *Catherine Lowther, married Henry Slingsby *Mary Lowther, married John Stanhope. He had a falling-out with his eldest son, William, over his marriage to the daughter of Lord Maynard, because of the reduction in the estates that would be entailed by her

jointure Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the de ...

. He left the majority of his estate to Christopher, his younger son.

References

* English MPs 1695–1698 1639 births 1705 deaths Members of Gray's Inn Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford 17th-century English landowners 18th-century English landowners High Sheriffs of Yorkshire

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 ...

{{17thC-England-MP-stub