Sir William Stapleton, 4th Baronet ( 1698–1740), of Rotherfield Greys, Oxfordshire, was an English Jacobite and Tory politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1727 to 1740.

Early life

Stapleton was brought up on

Nevis Nevis ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...

in the British Leeward Islands, the son of

Sir William Stapleton, 3rd Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

and his wife Frances Russell, daughter of Sir James Russell who had acted as governor of the island. In 1699, he succeeded to the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

on the death of his father. He matriculated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

on 17 April 1714, aged 15. He married Catherine Paul, co-heiress daughter of William Paul of Braywick,

Bray, Berkshire Bray, occasionally Bray on Thames, is a suburban village and civil parish in the Windsor and Maidenhead district, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire. It sits on the banks of the River Thames, to the southeast of Maidenhead with which it is ...

and his wife Lady Catherine Fane, daughter of

Vere Fane, 4th Earl of Westmorland Vere Fane, 4th Earl of Westmorland (13 February 1645 – 29 December 1693), styled The Honourable Vere Fane from 1644 to 1661 and Sir Vere Fane from 1661 to 1691, was a British peer and Member of Parliament for Peterborough and twice for Ke ...

on 28 April 1724. With the marriage he came into possession of Greys Court.

Career

In the 1720s Stapleton associated with Jacobites including

Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton Privy Council of Ireland, PC (21 December 1698 – 31 May 1731) was an English peer and Jacobitism, Jacobite politician who was one of the few people in the history of England, and the first since the 15th c ...

. At the general election of 1727 he was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

. He voted against the Administration in every recorded division. He spoke on a bill for the relief of the sugar colonies on 21 February 1733, and successfully opposed the import of rum from the North American colonies into Ireland as detrimental to the sugar colonies. He was involved in the drafting of the

Molasses Act The Molasses Act 1733 ( 6 Geo. 2. c. 13), also known as the Trade of Sugar Colonies Act 1732, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain that imposed a tax of six pence per gallon on imports of molasses from non-British colonies. Parliament ...

. He was returned unopposed again at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of Great Britain, House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scot ...

Linda Colley Dame Linda Jane Colley (born 13 September 1949 in Chester, England) is an expert on British, imperial and global history from 1700. She is Shelby M. C. Davis 1958 Professor of History at Princeton University and a long-term fellow in history at ...

characterises him as an "inarticulate" Tory of the Country Party.

Death and legacy

Stapleton died at Bath on 12 January 1740. He and his wife had three sons and two daughters. She remarried to Rev. Matthew Dutton and died in 1753 He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his second son

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 ...

. His eldest son Lt. William Stapleton was killed on board HMS ''Isis'' at Port Royal, Jamaica. His daughter Catherine married Sir James Wright, HM Resident Minister in Venice.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stapleton, William 1690s births 1740 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 English Jacobites People from Nevis Baronets in the Baronetage of England Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford