Button, William, Sir (1584 -1655)
Sir William Button was the son of William Button, of Alton and of Tockenham Court, Lyneham, Wiltshire, and Jane Lambe, daughter of John Lambe, of East Coulston, Wiltshire. Button matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, in 1601 at the age of sixteen. He was knighted at Whitehall in 1605. From 1611 to 1612 he was High Sheriff of Wiltshire. In 1614, he was elected Member of Parliament for Morpeth. On 18 March 1622 he purchases a baronetcy. In 1628 he was elected MP for Wiltshire, though he was not a prominent politician. In fact he fell foul of the law on several occasions, for poaching, violence, assault, and ‘acts of incontinency’ with his wife’s maid. He was a Royalist and supported the king in the Civil War for which was fined £2,880.
Button married Ruth Dunch, daughter of Walter Dunch of Avebury, Wiltshire. On his death he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son William. He was buried at Wraxall, Wiltshire where there is a monumental inscription to his memory.
Seat / Residence(s): Wraxall