Sir William Forester KB (10 December 1655 – February 1718), of Dothill Park, Apley Castle, and Watling Street in

Wellington, Shropshire Wellington is a market town and a civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It is situated northwest of Telford and east of Shrewsbury, near the western terminus of the M54 motorway. The summit of The Wrekin lie ...

was a Whig politician who sat in the English and

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

between 1679 and 1715.

Early life

Forester was the eldest surviving son of Francis Forester of Dothill and his wife, Lady Mary Newport, a daughter of

Richard Newport, 1st Baron Newport Richard Newport, 1st Baron Newport (7 May 1587 – 8 February 1651). was an England, English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1629. He supported the Cavaliers ...

, of High Ercall, and widow of John Steventon of Dothill Park. He entered

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

in 1673 and graduated as MA in 1675.

Career

He succeeded to Dothill Park in about 1675 under the will of his half-brother Richard Steventon (died 1659) and this became the main family seat at least until his grandson obtained Willey Park by marrying the heiress of George Weld.'Wellington: Manors and other estates', ''A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 11: Telford'' (1985), pp. 215–221
Shropshire manor
Date accessed: 20 May 2008. Forester was Member of Parliament for the borough constituency of Wenlock from 1679 to 1685. In 1683 he was almost implicated in the

Rye House Plot The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and heir to the throne) James, Duke of York. The royal party went from Westminster to Newmarket to see horse races and were expected to make the r ...

against Charles II, when a search revealed 50

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

s and pike heads were found hidden in an oven, and a large quantity of

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

buried on his estate. He paid off a heavy fine, allegedly helped by selling off valuable timber grown on the

Wrekin The Wrekin ( ) is a hill in east Shropshire, England. It is located some west of Telford, on the border between the unitary authorities of Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. Rising above the Shropshire Plain to a height of above sea level, i ...

. He was an opponent of Charles' successor James II, suffering a spell of imprisonment in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

after the

Monmouth Rebellion The Monmouth Rebellion in June 1685 was an attempt to depose James II of England, James II, who in February had succeeded his brother Charles II of England, Charles II as king of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and ...

, and being exiled in Holland until he returned to England accompanying

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily () * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg (1817–1890) N ...

in 1688. He was invested as a Knight Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

in 1689. He was returned as MP for Wenlock at the 1689 English general election and was granted a sinecure place as

Clerk of the Green Cloth The Clerk of the Green Cloth was a position in the British Royal Household. The clerk acted as secretary of the Board of Green Cloth, and was therefore responsible for organising royal journeys and assisting in the administration of the Royal H ...

in 1689, which he held to 1717. He was returned for Wenlock again at the

1690 English general election The 1690 English general election occurred after the dissolution of the Convention Parliament summoned in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution, and saw the partisan feuds in that parliament continue in the constituencies. The Tories made sig ...

and sat until 1715. In May 1695, Forester fought a duel against fellow MP, Colonel Beaumont (who disarmed Forester), over accusations made in the House of Commons. In August 1703 he was one of the commissioners sent by Queen Anne to receive the Archduke Charles of Austria at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

Personal life

In 1684, he married Mary, a daughter of James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, with whom he had two sons and three daughters. One son was another William Forester who also sat for Wenlock, while one of his daughters, Mary, married Sir George Downing, 3rd Baronet (the latter, nephew of his wife, having been brought up in Forester's household).
History of Parliament Online article on Sir George Downing. Accessed 21 May 2024. Forester died in 1718, aged 62, and was buried at Wellington.

References

External links

*''Burkes Peerage'' (1939 edition). {{DEFAULTSORT:Forester, William, Sir 1655 births 1718 deaths

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies People from Wellington, Shropshire English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge