William Cage was an English Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons of England

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

 from 1702 to 1705 and in the House of Commons of Great Britain

House of Commons of Great Britain

The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of the Parliament of Scotland, as one of the most significant...

 from 1710 to 1715.

Cage was the son of William Cage, lawyer of Hollingbourne

Hollingbourne

Hollingbourne is a village and civil parish in the Maidstone District of Kent, England. The parish is located on the southward slope of the North Downs to the east of the county town, Maidstone. The parish population is almost 1000 persons and includes Hollingbourne village as well as Broad...

, Kent and his wife Cicely Culpeper, daughter of Sir Cheney Culpeper. His father and grandfather died in 1676 and 1677 and he succeeded to his grandfather's estate at Milgate. He was High Sheriff of Kent

High Sheriff of Kent

The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere or are now defunct, so that its functions...

 in 1694 but was dismissed from the justice's bench in December 1695 and arrested in February 1696 under suspicion of disloyalty. Nevertheless he became a Deputy Lieutenant

Deputy Lieutenant

In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....

 and a colonel of the militia by 1701.

At the 1701 election Cage stood for parliament at Rochester

Rochester (UK Parliament constituency)

Rochester was a parliamentary constituency in Kent. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England from 1295 to 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800, and finally to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801...

 but was unsuccessful as a result of a smear campaign under the allegations of disloyalty. However he was elected 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,...

(MP) for Rochester in 1702 and sat until 1705 when following his defeat he was described as a "violent man". He was re-elected for Rochester again in 1710 in a Tory landslide and sat until 1715 when he declined to stand.

Caged died after a long retirement from politics aged 71.

Cage married Catherine before 1690 and had three sons and four daughters.