Sir William Morgan (c. 1640 – 28 April 1680) was a Welsh landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England between 1659 and 1680.

Life

William Morgan was the eldest son and heir of Sir Thomas Morgan (died 1664), and his second wife Elizabeth Wyndham daughter of Francis Wyndham of Sandhill Park, Bishop's Lydeard, Somerset. His brother was Sir John Morgan. William was a student at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

in 1656 and 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 1658.History of Parliament Online - Morgan, William
/ref> He was first returned as 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 o ...

for Monmouthshire to 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 po ...

in 1659. He was proposed as a

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 ...

for Monmouthshire in 1660, and continued to represent the county 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 ...

until his death.

Family

Morgan married his first cousin Blanche Morgan, daughter of his father's sister, Elizabeth Morgan, and Sir William Morgan, on 4 November 1661. He rebuilt

Tredegar House Tredegar House ( Welsh: ''Tŷ Tredegar'') is a 17th-century Charles II-era mansion on the southwestern edge of Newport, Wales. For over five hundred years it was home to the Morgan family, later Lords Tredegar; one of the most powerful and infl ...

on a very grand scale, with the help of his wife's huge dowry. Blanche inherited her father's estates at Dderw, Brecknockshire in 1658, after the death of her brother William. This gave Morgan and his descendants considerable political influence in the county for generations. His children by Blanche included two sons,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

and

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, and a daughter, Blanche. After the death of Blanche on 23 March 1673, Morgan married Elizabeth Dayrell, widow of Sir Francis Dayrell and daughter of William Lewis of Bletchington, Oxfordshire. However, Elizabeth proved to be of unsound mind. Morgan arranged dual marriages between his eldest son, Thomas, and Martha, daughter of Sir Edward Mansel; and between his daughter Blanche (d. 1682) and Mansel's eldest son, Edward. However, William did not live to see the marriages carried out, dying in London in 1680. Blanche died before marrying Mansel's son, who died unmarried. However, Thomas, who inherited William's estates, did marry Martha Mansel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, William 1640 births 1680 deaths People from Machen Year of birth uncertain 17th-century Welsh politicians English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681