Walter FitzWilliam MP (abt. 1575 - 1654)

Ancestors

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Biography

Younger son. Allowance £100 a year.

Got himself elected for a pocket borough to evade his creditors, but his Parliamentary career left no trace in the records.

History of Parliament

b. c.1575, 2nd s. of Sir William Fitzwilliam† (d.1618) of Milton, Northants. and Winifred, da. of Sir Walter Mildmay† of Apethorpe, Northants. chan. of exch. 1559-89; bro. of William, 1st Bar. Fitzwilliam of Liffer [I].^[1] educ. Emmanuel, Camb. 1591; travelled abroad (Italy) 1606.^[2] prob. unm. bur. 7 Jan. 1654.^[3]

Fitzwilliam was descended from a Merchant Taylor of London who bought Milton, three-and-a-half miles from Peterborough, in 1502. One seat in the borough was held by the family in most parliaments of Elizabeth’s reign. This influence came to an end when Fitzwilliam’s grandfather, after two terms as lord deputy of Ireland, died in debt to the Crown in 1599. As a younger son, Fitzwilliam enjoyed an annuity of £100, which was doubled on his father’s death. However, this was insufficient to maintain the lifestyle to which he aspired, and his reliance on unscrupulous moneylenders further ruined his family’s fortunes.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ M.E. Finch, Five Northants. Fams. (Northants. Rec. Soc. xix), 240.
2. ↑ Al. Cant.; HMC Hatfield, xviii. 102.
3. ↑ Memorials of St. Margaret’s, Westminster ed. A.M. Burke, 635.
4. ↑ Finch, 118-9, 127, 196-7.

• Cambridge Alumni database, FTSN591W.

• History of Parliament - Walter FitzWilliam MP