William Whitmore (died 1648)

Sir William Whitmore (4 November 1573 – before 24 January 1648^[1]) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1626.

Apley Hall, Shropshire, entirely remodelled since the 17th century

Parents, brothers and sisters

Whitmore was the eldest son, and heir, of William Whitmore (died 1593^[2]), citizen and Haberdasher of London, and his wife Anne Bond (died 1615^[3]), daughter of Alderman William Bond, Haberdasher (died 1576^[4]).^[5] Their children were:^[6]

• Sir William Whitmore (born 1573)
• Sir Thomas Whitmore, died 1612
• Sir George Whitmore, born after 1572, died 1654
• Elizabeth Whitmore, married Sir William Craven (1548-1618)
• Anne Whitmore, married F. Baber, of Chute, Wiltshire
• Margaret Whitmore, married Sir John St John, of Lydiard Tregoze, Wiltshire
• Mary Whitmore (c. 1575–1652), married Sir Charles Montagu of Boughton
• Francis Whitmore, married Sir John Weld (1582-1622) of Arnolds, Edmonton, Middlesex
• Jane, married Nathaniel Still, Esq., son of Bishop John Still

Career

William Whitmore and his younger brother (Sir) George Whitmore, Haberdasher, both had public civic careers in London.^[7] He is provisionally identified as the William Whitmore who matriculated sizar from Trinity College, Cambridge at Michaelmas 1588,^[8][1] and was certainly admitted to the Middle Temple on 1 February 1594/95.^[9]

William inherited an estate including property at Apley, Shropshire after his father's death in 1593,^[2] though he still had to reach majority before receiving it. After his term in the Middle Temple he married (first) Margaret Moseley, daughter of Rowland Moseley of Hough, Lancashire (son of Sir Nicholas Mosley), and had a son and daughter. Margaret died in 1608 and he married (secondly, in 1610) Dorothy, daughter of John Weld, Haberdasher, and niece of Sir Humphrey Weld, Lord Mayor of London 1608–1609, whose son Sir John Weld was married to Whitmore's sister Frances.^[6]

William's inheritance was the foundation of his wealth, but it was as a Contractor for Crown Lands, 1609–1616, and a farmer of customs, in association with Sir Arthur Ingram and others, and then in further lending schemes, that he was able greatly to extend the original estate.^[1] He is thought to have been responsible for the arrangement of a surviving MS ledger in around 1617-1618 compiling transcripts of 181 evidences relating to his land-holdings, including lands acquired from Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote Park.^[10]

He was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1620.^[11] In 1621, he was elected Member of Parliament for Bridgnorth.^[12] He was knighted at Greenwich on 24 or 28 June 1621.^[13] In 1624 he was re-elected MP for Bridgnorth. He was elected MP for Bridgnorth again in 1626.^[12]

In 1624 the theologian Thomas Gataker (1574-1654) published a volume Iacobs Thankfulnesse to God, for Gods Goodness to Iacob, dedicated jointly to Sir William and Sir George Whitmore, opening his address by stating that their mother had presented him and spoken for him at baptism, as his godmother.^[14] He goes on to say that she continued to support him, making bequests to him in her will. His texts, which concern the promise that God will advance the temporal affairs of those who attend to the spiritual, are, he says, "to egge you on, whom God hath blessed with so large a portion of his bounty, unto those religious offices", and are an expansion of a lecture formerly delivered to the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers when one of them was Master of the Company. He develops his theme to explore differences between their own theology and that of the Romanists.

Whitmore died before 24 January 1648 at the age of 75. His son Thomas Whitmore was an MP of Royalist sympathy and was created a baronet in 1641.^[11][15]

Family

Sir William had children by both of his marriages.^[11] By the first, to Margaret Moseley, were

• George Whitmore, died without issue
• Anne Whitmore (died 1666), married Sir Edmund Sawyer.

By the second marriage, to Dorothy Weld (who died in 1626), were

• Sir Thomas Whitmore, 1st Baronet, MP, son and heir (1612-1653), married Elizabeth (died 1666), daughter and heir of alderman Sir William Acton (1570-1651). Sir Thomas was succeeded by his son, Sir William Whitmore, 2nd Baronet (1637-1699).
• William Whitmore, died young
• Richard Whitmore (1614-1667), of Lower Slaughter, Gloucestershire, married Catherine (died 1673), daughter and coheir of Robert Deards, Esq., of London. Their son, Richard, of Lower Slaughter, married Anne, daughter of Sir John Weld of Willey, Shropshire.

References

1. A. Thrush and S. Healey, 'Whitmore, William (1573-1648), of Apley Park, Salop.', in A. Thrush and J.P. Ferris (eds), The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629 (Cambridge University Press 2010), History of Parliament Online.
2. 'Anno 36 Elizabeth (1593): William Whitmore (William), haberdasher', in R.R. Sharpe (ed.), Calendar of Wills Proved and Enrolled in the Court of Husting, London, Part 2: 1358-1688 (London 1890), pp. 713-725 (British History Online).
3. Will of Anne Bond, widow of London (P.C.C. 1615, Rudd quire).
4. Will of William Bonde, Alderman of London (P.C.C. 1576, Carew quire).
5. A.B. Beaven, The Aldermen of the City London, temp. Henry III.-1908, 2 vols (The City Corporation, London 1913), II, p. 38 (Internet Archive).
6. 'Whitmore of Apley Park', in The Visitation of Shropshire, Taken in the Year 1623, Harleian Society XXVIII-XXIX (1888-1889), II, pp. 499-500 (Internet Archive).
7. D.W. Hollis III, 'Whitmore, Sir George (b. after 1572, d. 1654)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004).
8. J. Venn and J.A. Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses, Part I vol. 4 (Cambridge University Press 1927), p. 396 (Internet Archive).
9. H.F. MacGeagh and H.A.C. Sturgess (comp.), Register of Admissions to the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, Vol. 1, (Butterworth and Co (Publishers) Ltd, London 1949), p. 67.
10. Sold by Bonhams in 2010: 'Shropshire – Lucy of Charlecote Park and Sir William Whitmore', Sale of Books, Maps, Manuscripts and Historical Photographs, London, New Bond Street, 23 Nov 2010, Lot no. 232', Catalogue entry (Bonhams).
11. J. Burke and J.B. Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England (Scott Webster and Geary, London 1837), p. 563 (Google).
12. Browne Willis, Notitia Parliamentaria, or, An History of the Counties, Cities, and Boroughs in England and Wales: ...The whole extracted from MSS and printed evidences (Author, London 1750), pp. 176-239 (Google).
13. W.A. Shaw, Knights of England, 2 vols (Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906), II, p. 177 (Hathi Trust).
14. T. Gataker, Iacobs thankfulnesse to God, for Gods goodnesse to Iacob A meditation on Genesis 32. 10. VVherein by the way also the popish doctrine of mans merite is discussed, (Iohn Haviland for Fulke Clifton, London 1624). Full text at Umich/eebo (open).
15. The 'History of Parliament' article incorrectly states the baronetcy was awarded in reward for his father having made Bridgnorth Castle available to the King in 1642, the year after the baronetcy was created.

Parliament of England
Preceded by John Pierse Richard Singe	Member of Parliament for Bridgnorth 1621–1624 With: Sir John Hayward George Smith	Succeeded by Walter Acton John Bennet
Preceded by Walter Acton John Bennet	Member of Parliament for Bridgnorth 1626 With: John Bennet	Succeeded by Sir Richard Shelton Sir George Paul