William Brouncker (died 1596)
Sir William Brouncker (c. 1547 – 1596) was an English landowner and member of parliament.
He was the eldest son of Henry Brouncker of Melksham and Erlestoke by his second wife Ursula Yate.[1] He was trained in the law, entering the Middle Temple in 1566.[2] He succeeded his father in 1568, becoming a wealthy landowner with estates near Chippenham and Devizes, and property in Westbury, Wiltshire.[3] He married Martha, the daughter of Sir Walter Mildmay the following year[4]
As a substantial local landowner he secured his own election and that of his younger brother Henry as Member (MP) for Westbury in 1572.[3][5] He represented Westbury again in 1584.[3] He was a member of the Wiltshire bench as a Justice of the Peace from 1573 and appointed High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1581–82.[3] His status in the county was sufficient for him to be elected as a knight of the shire for Wiltshire in 1586, 1589 and 1593.[3] He was knighted in 1592.[3] As an MP he was active as a committee man and is recorded as having spoken three times in his last parliament.[3]
He died in 1596.[3] Martha died in 1614.[6]
Children
He and Martha had a son and four daughters:[1]
- Henry married Gertrude, daughter of Henry Sadler of Everleigh, Wiltshire.[7]
- Mary married John Wynter of Dyrham, Gloucestershire.[8][7]
- Grace married Sir Francis Wortley, 1st Baronet[7]
- Anne married Sir John Jennings[9][7]
- Elizabeth married Hugh Halswell[7]
References
- ^ a b "Place House, Melksham, and its Owners". Wiltshire Notes and Queries: 249–52. June 1903.
- ^ Register of Admissions to the Middle Temple. Vol. 1. 1949. p. 30.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "BROUNCKER WILLIAM, (c.1547-96), of Melksham, Erlestoke and Winterbourne, Wilts". History of Parliament online. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ Brief memoir of the Mildmay family. 1913. p. 58.
- ^ "1558-1603, Constituencies:Westbury". History of Parliament. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
- ^ Abstracts of Somersetshire Wills. Vol. 6. 1890. p. 98.
- ^ a b c d e The visitation of Wiltshire 1623. 1882. p. 50.
- ^ The visitation of Gloucestershire 1623. Vol. 21. Harleian Society. 1885. p. 182.
- ^ The Visitations of Hertfordshire. Vol. 22. Harleian Society. 1886. p. 148.