William Ashhurst
Sir William Ashhurst or Ashurst (26 April 1647 – 12 January 1720) was an English banker, Sheriff of London, Lord Mayor of London and Member of Parliament.
Biography
The son of Henry Ashurst[1] Ashurst was a member of the Corporation of London from 1678, and an alderman from 1687; he was knighted in 1687, and was Sheriff of London in 1691–1692 and Lord Mayor of London in 1693–1694.[2][3]
A Whig, he represented the City of London in Parliament for three separate periods between 1689 and 1710; he was generally regarded as one of the Country Whigs, but voted with the Court Whigs against the Disbanding Bill in 1698-9.[3]
He was a good friend of Edmund Calamy and was a nonconformist like the rest of his family, so unsurprisingly he was an active supporter of the Glorious Revolution and sat in the Convention Parliament (1689).[3]
He was one of the founding subscribers of the Bank of England, and a Director of the bank in 1697–1700, 1701–3, 1704–6, 1707–9 and 1711–14.[4][5]
Family
Sir William married Elizabeth the daughter of Robert Thompson.[6] When in the country they lived in a Queen Anne style red-brick mansion he built in the outer bailey of Hedingham Castle after his purchase of the castle in 1693.[2][7]
Notes
- ↑ Bailey 1885, p. 181.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Disraeli 1993, p. 223.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 E.C..
- ↑ "The Charter of the corporation of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England" (PDF). 27 July 1694.
- ↑ Woodhead 1966, pp. 14–21.
- ↑ Disraeli 1993, p. 223 footnote 7.
- ↑ McCann 1997, p. 295.
References
Bailey, John Eglington (1885). "Ashurst, Henry". In Stephen, Leslie. Dictionary of National Biography 2. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 181. - Disraeli, Benjamin (1993). Gunn, John Alexander Wilson; Wiebe, Melvin George, eds. Benjamin Disraeli Letters: 1848-1851 5 (illustrated ed.). University of Toronto Press. p. 233. ISBN 0-8020-2927-2.
- E.C. "ashhurst-sir-william-1647-1720". The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved September 2011.
- McCann, John (1997). Essex archaeology and history 28: 295. Missing or empty
|title=(help);|chapter=ignored (help) - Woodhead, J.R. (1966). "Abrahall - Ayray :Ashurst, William". The Rulers of London 1660-1689: A biographical record of the Aldermen and Common Councilment of the City of London. pp. 14–21.
Further reading
- Walcott, Robert (1956). English Politics in the Early Eighteenth Century. Oxford University Press.
- Hayton, David (1987). The Country Party in the House of Commons 1698-1699: a Forecast of the Opposition to a Standing Army?. Parliamentary History 6. pp. 141–63.
| Parliament of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Patience Ward Sir Robert Clayton Sir Thomas Pilkington William Love |
Member of Parliament for City of London 1689–1690 With: Sir Patience Ward Sir Robert Clayton Sir Thomas Pilkington |
Succeeded by Sir William Prichard Sir Samuel Dashwood Sir William Turner Sir Thomas Vernon |
| Preceded by Sir William Prichard Sir Samuel Dashwood Sir John Fleet Sir Thomas Vernon |
Member of Parliament for City of London 1695–1702 With: Thomas Papillon 1695–1701 Sir Robert Clayton 1695–1698, 1701–1702 Sir James Houblon 1698–1701 Sir John Fleet 1695–1701, Mar–Nov 1701 Gilbert Heathcote Feb–Mar 1701, Nov 1701–1702 Sir William Withers Feb–Nov 1701 Sir Thomas Abney 1701–1702 |
Succeeded by Sir William Prichard Sir John Fleet Sir Gilbert Heathcote Sir Francis Child |
| Preceded by Sir William Prichard Sir John Fleet Sir Gilbert Heathcote Sir Francis Child |
Member of Parliament for City of London 1705–1707 With: Sir Robert Clayton Samuel Shepheard Sir Gilbert Heathcote |
Succeeded by Parliament of Great Britain |
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
| Preceded by Parliament of England |
Member of Parliament for City of London 1707–1710 With: Sir William Withers Samuel Shepheard 1707–1708 Sir John Ward 1708–1710 Sir Gilbert Heathcote |
Succeeded by Sir William Withers Sir Richard Hoare Sir George Newland Sir John Cass |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir John Fleet |
Lord Mayor of the City of London 1693–1694 |
Succeeded by Sir Thomas Lant |
|