Sir William Hicks, 1st Baronet (1596 – 9 October 1680), of Beverston

Beverston

Beverston is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 132. The village is about two miles west of Tetbury. Beverston is an example of a typical unaltered Gloucestershire Cotswold village...

, in Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

, and of Ruckholt, in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, was an English Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

.

Life

He was the son of the wealthy courtier Sir Michael Hicks

Michael Hicks (1543-1612)

Sir Michael Hicks was an English courtier and politician who was secretary to Lord Burghley during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The son of a Bristol merchant and elder brother of Baptist Hicks, 1st Viscount Campden, he matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1559 and was admitted to...

, who was secretary to Lord Burghley

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...

 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

, and wife Elizabeth Coulston; Burghley was his godfather, and he was named William in Burghley's honour. He inherited a substantial estate on his father's death in 1612, and on 21 July 1619 he was created a baronet.

It is said in the Dictionary of National Biography

Dictionary of National Biography

The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...

that he was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

, though this is not confirmed by the Venn reference work on Cambridge graduates.

Sir William served in two Parliaments as member for Great Marlow

Great Marlow (UK Parliament constituency)

Great Marlow, sometimes simply called Marlow, was a parliamentary borough in Buckinghamshire. It elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons between 1301 and 1307, and again from 1624 until 1868, and then one member from 1868 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.-History:In the...

, that of 1625-6 and once more in the Short Parliament

Short Parliament

The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....

 of 1640. During the Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

 he was a staunch Royalist, and saw action at the Siege of Colchester

Siege of Colchester

The siege of Colchester occurred in the summer of 1648 when the English Civil War reignited in several areas of Britain. Colchester found itself in the thick of the unrest when a Royalist army on its way through East Anglia to raise support for the King, was attacked by Lord-General Thomas Fairfax...

 in 1648, as a result of which he was imprisoned for several weeks.

Family

He married Margaret Paget (born c. 1604 – buried 10 September 1652), daughter of William Paget, 4th Baron Paget de Beaudesert

William Paget, 4th Baron Paget de Beaudesert

William Paget, 4th Baron Paget of Beaudesert was an English peer and colonist born in Beaudesert House, Staffordshire, England to Thomas Paget, 3rd Baron Paget and Nazareth Newton. He was a descendent of William Paget, 1st Baron Paget. William's father had been stripped of his title after fleeing...

, and Lettice Knollys, and they had a number of children:

• Baptist, who died young
• Elizabeth, who died young
• Sir William Hicks (1629-1703), who succeeded to the baronetcy
• Letitia Hicks, who married the Earl of Donegall
• Catherine, who died young
• Francis, who died young
• Sir Michael Hicks, whose line inherited the baronetcy after the death of the last of his brother's descendants, and from whom the Earls St Aldwyn
  Earl St Aldwyn
  Earl St Aldwyn, of Coln St Aldwyn in the County of Gloucester, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1915 for the prominent Conservative politician Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Viscount St Aldwyn, known from 1854 to 1907 Sir Michael Hicks Beach, 9th Baronet, of Beverston....
  
  are descended
• Elizabeth, who died young