Sir William Wray, 1st Baronet, of Ashby (1625 – 17 October 1669) was an English 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 ...

at various times between 1645 and 1660. Wray was the son of Sir Christopher Wray of Ashby, Lincolnshire, and his wife, Albinia Cecil, daughter of

Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon (29 February 1572 – 16 November 1638) was an English military commander and a politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1624. Life Cecil was the third son of Thomas Ceci ...

. He was grandson of

Sir William Wray, 1st Baronet, of Glentworth Sir William Wray, 1st Baronet, of Glentworth, Lincolnshire (c. 1555 – 13 August 1617) was an English Member of Parliament. He represented the constituency of Grimsby from 1584 to 1585, Lincolnshire in 1601 and Grimsby again from 1604 to Novemb ...

.George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Volume 3''
/ref> He was admitted to

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

on 5 November 1638. In the Civil War, his father raised a regiment in the Parliamentarian army and he may have served as a captain. He succeeded to the estates of Ashby on the death of his father in February 1645 and was travelling abroad later in the year when he was elected Member of Parliament for

Great Grimsby Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

as a recruiter to the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

. He was underage and it was said that at this time he "little minded anything except drinking and folly". He was excluded under

Pride's Purge Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England. Despite defeat in the ...

in 1648. He was elected MP for Grimsby again in 1654 for the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the H ...

and became deputy governor of

Beaumaris Castle Beaumaris Castle ( ; , ), in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales, was built as part of Edward I of England, Edward I's Conquest of Wales by Edward I of England, campaign to conquer north Wales after 1282. Plans were probably first made to construct t ...

in the same year. He was elected MP for Grimsby again in 1656 for the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first sess ...

and in 1659 for 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 ...

.History of Parliament Online - Wray, William
/ref> In April 1660, Wray was elected again for Grimsby in the Convention Parliament by which time he was reckoned a Royalist. He was knighted on 6 June 1660 and was created a

baronet 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 ...

(of Ashby) on 27 June 1660. He had an estate worth £3000 per annum. Wray died at the age of 43 and was buried at Ashby.

Family

Wray married in or before 1652 Olympia Tufton, daughter of Sir Humfrey Tufton, 1st Baronet of the Mote, Maidstone and had 3 sons and 5 daughters. His son

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

succeeded him to the baronetcy of Ashby. Sir Christopher also succeeded as 6th Baronet to the earlier Wray baronetcy of Glentworth following the death of Sir Bethell Wray, 5th Baronet without male issue in 1672.Burke, Messrs., John & John Bernard, ''The Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland, and Scotland'', Second edition, London, 1841, pp. 584-585.

References

1625 births 1669 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Members of Lincoln's Inn English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 Members of the Parliament of England for Great Grimsby {{1660-England-MP-stub