William Duckett (1 August 1685 – 12 December 1749) of

Hartham House Hartham House was a country house at Hartham Park, Hartham, Wiltshire, England, standing next to Hartham Park, north-west of the town of Corsham. During the Tudor and Civil War periods it was owned by the Duckett family, among whom were several m ...

, near

Corsham Corsham is a historic market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. It is at the southwestern edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 road (England), A4 national route. It is southwest of Swindon, east of ...

, Wiltshire, was a British Army officer and Whig 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 1741. Duckett was baptised at

Grittleton Grittleton is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England, northwest of Chippenham. The parish includes the hamlets of Foscote, Leigh Delamere, Littleton Drew and Sevington, and part of the hamlet of The Gibb ...

, Wiltshire on 10 Aug 1685,Grittleton Parish Register.

Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorse ...

the second son of

Lionel Duckett Sir Lionel Duckett (1511 – August 1587) was one of the merchant adventurers of the City of London. He was four times Master of the Mercers' Company, and Lord Mayor of London in 1572–1573. He was born in 1511 to William Duckett of Flintham ...

MP of Hartham House, Corsham. He joined the army and was a cornet in the

1st Dragoon Guards The 1st King's Dragoon Guards was an armoured cavalry and dragoon guard regiment in the British Army. The regiment was raised by Sir John Lanier in 1685 as the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour of Queen Mary, consort of King James ...

in 1712, serving in Flanders until April 1714. He became lieutenant and adjutant in 1715 and captain-lieutenant in 1720. In 1723 he became a major in the 2nd troop of horse in the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

. Duckett was returned as a Whig Member of Parliament for the family borough of

Calne Calne () is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). at the northwestern extremity ...

at the 1727 general election and always voted for the Administration in recorded divisions. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1729. In August 1733 he was asked by Walpole to bring in Sir Orlando Bridgeman for Calne but excused himself from doing so. He was returned at the 1734 election with Walter Hungerford. He did not stand in

1741 Events January–March * January 13 ** Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. ** Conventicle Act of 1741 is introduced in Denmark-Norway. *February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain ...

, but brought in William Elliot, his subordinate officer, instead. He also retired from the army in that year.

Family

He married, on 8 July 1721, Mary Turberville, daughter of Thomas Turberville of

Bere Regis Bere Regis () is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated north-west of Wareham. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 1,745. The village has one shop, a family-owned cheese barn, a post office, and two pub ...

, Dorset, with issue: * Elizabeth Duckett (1724–1804), who became the second wife of Major-General

Granville Elliott Major-general, Major-General Granville Elliott, 1st Count Elliott (7 October 1713 – 10 October 1759), was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British military officer who served with distinction in several other European armies and subsequently i ...

, Count Elliott. Duckett died on 12 December 1749, and was buried at

St Peter's Church, Petersham St Peter's Church is the parish church of the village of Petersham, London, Petersham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is part of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark, Diocese of Southwark in the Church of England. The main body o ...

, Richmond upon Thames. His elder brother

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

(1684–1732) was a poet and author, who was returned for Calne several times between 1705 and 1723.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duckett, William 1685 births 1749 deaths 1st King's Dragoon Guards officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 Grenadier Guards officers Burials at St Peter's, Petersham