William Bridgeman FRS (c.1646 – 10 May 1699) was a senior English civil servant and MP. He was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the son of Richard Bridgeman, a merchant for the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

and was the cousin of Sir Orlando Bridgeman, 1st Baronet, of Ridley. He entered

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, ...

, matriculating in 1662. He became a naturalised British subject in 1657 and lived at Combes Hall, near Stowmarket, Suffolk. He became a civil servant and occupied a number of important posts, viz. Under-Secretary of State (1667-1681, 1683-1689, 1690-1692, 163-1694); Commissioner for Assessment for Westminster (1679-1680), 1689-1690); Clerk of the Privy Council (1685-1689, 1693-death); Registrar of the Ecclesiastical Commission (1687-1688); Member of the Royal Fisheries, Ireland (1692); Secretary to the Admiralty (1694-1698). He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in 1679. He was also returned as MP for Bramber, Sussex for 1685 to 1687 and served as Deputy Lieutenant of Middlesex from 1692 to his death in 1699. He had married Diana, daughter of Peter Vernatt.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridgeman, William 1646 births 1699 deaths Politicians from Suffolk Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford Deputy Lieutenants of Middlesex Fellows of the Royal Society