William Forester (1690 – 12 November 1758), of

Dothill Dothill is a small district in the north-western part of Telford, England. It is located to the north-west of Wellington, Shropshire, Wellington, one of the old towns that form a part of the modern-day new town of Telford. The area of Dothill use ...

in Wellington,

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

was an English landowner 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 ...

in three Parliaments between 1715 and 1758.

Early life

Forester was the son of

Sir William Forester ''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 o ...

of Dothill Park, Shropshire and his wife, Lady Mary, daughter of

James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, (1648 – June 1683), known as Viscount Cranborne from 1660 to 1668, was an English nobleman and politician. Biography Salisbury was the son of Charles Cecil, Viscount Cranborne, the son of William Cec ...

. He married Catherine Brooke, the daughter and heiress of William Brooke of

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell ( ) is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an Civil Parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish from the medieval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The St James's C ...

in 1714. The family had a significant political interest at Wenlock and members of the family represented the borough in Parliament over several centuries. Forester inherited the interest on the death of his father in 1718.

Career

At the 1715 general election, Forester was returned unopposed as Whig Member of Parliament for Wenlock in succession to his father. He voted with the Government on all recorded occasions. During the crisis of the

South Sea Bubble South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

, he was found to have been credited with £1,000 stock, but could show that he had paid for it. He did not stand at the 1722 general election, nor in

1727 Events January–March * January 1 – (December 21, 1726 O.S.) Spain's ambassador to Great Britain demands that the British return Gibraltar after accusing Britain of violating the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Britain ...

when he returned his brother-in-law John Sambrooke. He was returned unopposed for Wenlock at the 1734 general election and voted consistently with the administration except when he abstained on the Spanish convention in 1739. He brought in his son Brooke in 1739 and did not stand at the 1741 general election when he returned his son-in-law instead. Forester was returned unopposed again at the 1754 general election, but does not appear to have spoken or voted in that Parliament.

Death and legacy

During his ownership of Dothill Park, Forester considerably enhanced the gardens.Parks and Gardens - Dothill Park
/ref> He died on 12 November 1758. He and his wife had four children: *

Brooke Forester Brooke Forester (7 February 1717 – 8 July 1774) was the long-serving Member of Parliament for the borough constituency of Wenlock from 1739 and 1768. Early life He was the eldest son of William Forester of Dothill in Wellington, Shropshire ...

*Lt. Col. Cecil Forester *Mary, who married Sir Brian Broughton-Delves, 4th Baronet *Martha, who married F. T. Blithe After Forester's death, the Dothill gardens reverted to grass and the estate went to ruin. The house was demolished in 1960 and the park built upon.

References

*''Burkes Peerage'' (1939 edition). 1690 births 1758 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 ...

People from Wellington, Shropshire Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1754–1761 {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub