| Sir William Lytton | |
| Honorific Suffix: | DL JP |
| Term Start: | 1640 |
| Term End: | 1648 |
| Predecessor: | Parliament suspended since 1629 |
| Alongside: | Arthur Capel, Sir Thomas Dacres |
| Successor: | Not represented in the Rump Parliament |
| Term Start1: | 1628 |
| Term End1: | 1629 |
| Predecessor1: | Sir John Boteler Sir Thomas Dacres |
| Alongside1: | Sir Thomas Dacres |
| Successor1: | Parliament suspended until 1640 |
| Birth Date: | 29 September 1586 |
| Birth Place: | Knebworth, Hertfordshire |
| Death Place: | Knebworth, Hertfordshire |
| Residence: | Knebworth House |
| Education: | Westminster school |
| Alma Mater: | Emmanuel College, Cambridge |
| Parents: | |
| Spouse: | Roland Lytton Anne St John Corbert |
| Children: | 8 |
| Relations: | Sir William Gostwick, 4th Baronet (grandson) |
Sir William Lytton DL JP (29 September 1586 – 14 August 1660) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1648.[1] He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War.
Lytton was born on 29 September 1586. He was the eldest son of Sir Rowland Lytton of Knebworth, and Anne (St John) Corbert. Before his parents' marriage, his mother was the widow of Robert Corbet,[2] MP for Shropshire.[3]
His paternal grandparents were Rowland Lytton, Governor of the Castle of Boulogne, and the former Anne Carleton (a daughter of George Carleton and sister to George Carleton). His maternal grandfather was Oliver St John, 1st Baron St John of Bletso and, his first wife, Agnes Fisher. After his grandmother's death, his grandfather married Elizabeth Chamber, a lady-in-waiting to each of King Henry VIII's six wives.[2]
He was educated at Westminster school from 1601 to 1602, and Emmanuel College, Cambridge from 1603 to 1607 before travelling abroad to France, Italy and the low countries from 1608 to 1609 with William Borlase and William Cecil.
He succeeded his father in 1615, inheriting the Knebworth estate. He was knighted on 25 July 1624 and appointed High Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1625 serving until 1626. He was Deputy Lieutenant of the county from 1625 to 1630.
In 1628, Lytton was elected Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire. In April 1640, he was re-elected MP for Herefordshire in the Short Parliament and then in November 1640 for the Long Parliament.[4] Lytton supported the Parliamentary cause in the Civil War and was one of the commissioners sent by Parliament and received by King Charles who tried to negotiate peace at Oxford in 1643,[2] (They failed to reach terms and the war was to continue for three more years). Lytton was excluded from parliament under Pride's Purge in 1648.
On 24 February 1612, Lytton married firstly Anne Slaney, the only child of Stephen Slaney of Norton, Shropshire (son of Sir Stephen Slaney). Before her death in 1626, they were the parents of one son and seven daughters, including:
Around November 1644 He married secondly Ruth (Barrington) Lamplugh (d. 1645), daughter of Sir Francis Barrington, 1st Baronet of Barrington Hall, Essex and widow of Sir George Lamplugh of Kirby Sigston.[2]
On his death he was buried at Knebworth and succeeded by his son Rowland. A monument was not erected until 1705, this being to the design of Edward Stanton.[8]
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