William Roper

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William Roper (1496 - 1578), biographer, son of a Kentish gentleman, married Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas More. He wrote a highly regarded biography of his father-in-law.^[1]

He was a member of various Parliaments between 1529 and 1558. Although he remained a Roman Catholic, he was permitted to retain his office of prothonotary of the Court of King's Bench after the accession of Elizabeth I. However, his diatribe against Elizabeth's late mother, Anne Boleyn, in his biography of More earned him the enmity of many Elizabethan loyalists and Protestants.

Roper was a character in Robert Bolt's famous play A Man for All Seasons, being portrayed (however accurately) as an indecisive, somewhat thick-headed man who did not know what he stood for. In the 1966 film of the play, he was portrayed by Corin Redgrave.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.