William Ravenscroft (1561 – 27 October 1628) 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 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 parliament. ...

at various times between 1586 and 1628. Ravenscroft was the son of George Ravenscroft. He was educated at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

in 1578, aged 17 and was awarded BA in 1580. He entered

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1580. In 1586, he was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

. He was called to the bar in 1589. In 1597 he was elected again as MP for Flintshire. He became Clerk of the Petty Bag for life in 1598. In 1601 he was re-elected MP for Flintshire. He was elected MP for

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the now ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest re ...

in 1604 and 1614. In 1621 he was elected MP for

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

. He became associate bencher and treasurer of Lincoln's Inn in 1621 and became master of the library in 1624. In 1624 he was re-elected MP for Flint. He was elected MP for Flint again in 1625 and 1628. History of Parliament Online – William Ravenscroft
/ref> Ravenscroft died unmarried at the age of about 67.

References

1561 births 1628 deaths Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales Members of Lincoln's Inn Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1614 English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1628–1629 {{17thC-England-MP-stub