Edward Norton (baptised 1654 – 1702) was an English soldier and politician, an early Whig supporter and conspirator of the

Rye House Plot The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and heir to the throne) James, Duke of York. The royal party went from Westminster to Newmarket to see horse races and were expected to make the r ...

Life

His sister Ellen married the Westbury Member of Parliament William Trenchard. With Trenchard's support, Norton was himself elected MP for Westbury in the second 1679 general election, though it required an election petition to unseat Henry Bertie and

Richard Lewis Richard, Rich, Richie, Rick, Ricky or Dick Lewis may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Richard Field Lewis Jr. (1907–1957), American radio network owner * Dick "Rocko" Lewis (Richard Henry Lewis III, 1908–1966), American entertainer ...

who had been declared the winners.historyofparliamentonline.org, ''Norton, Edward (1654-1702), of Ashe, Stourpaine, Dorset''.
/ref> With others of the Whig faction, he was the target of a government attempt towards the end of 1681 to discredit opponents by establishing

subornation of perjury In United States law, American law, Scots law, and under the laws of some English-speaking Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations, subornation of perjury is the crime of persuading or permitting a person to commit perjury, which is the swe ...

. He appeared before the Privy Council, to answer charges laid by Robert Bolron, and Lawrence Mowbray. Norton attended meetings of the Rye House Cabal around Robert West in December 1682, in which an assassination plot and a general armed uprising were discussed.

Richard Ashcraft Richard Ashcraft (26 September 1938 – 1 November 1995) was an American political theorist and Professor of Political Science at UCLA. He graduated from Harvard College (BA) and University of California, Berkeley The University of Californ ...

, ''Revolutionary Politics and Locke's Two Treatises of Government'' (1986), p. 363
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When the plot was discovered he escaped to Holland. In later life he supported the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

, and served in the army in the following decade.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Edward 1654 births 1702 deaths Members of the Green Ribbon Club People of the Rye House Plot English MPs 1680–1681