William Whiteway (1570–1640) was an English merchant and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 1624 and 1625. Whiteway was born at

Denbury Denbury is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Denbury and Torbryan, in Teignbridge district of Devon, England. The village is situated between Totnes and Newton Abbot, approximately ten miles from Torquay. Denbury Hill (Loc ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and left his home town to become an apprentice merchant. He made his first visit to Dorchester in 1585. In 1590 he was imprisoned as a Protestant in

Honfleur Honfleur () is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from Le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. The people that inhabit Hon ...

, France. He settled permanently in Dorchester in 1600 as a merchant and was successful in trade, especially with France. He was active in public office. In 1610 he was listed as a capital burgess under the charter. In 1624, he was elected Member of Parliament for Dorchester. He was re-elected MP for Dorchester in 1625 and was

bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...

in 1626. In 1629 he was an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

under the new charter and was elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

in 1631. He was bailiff for the fourth time in 1635.Michael Russell ''Members of the Dorchester Company 1624-1626''
/ref> Whiteway died at the age of about 70. Whiteway married Married Mary Mounsell who was from a trading family in 1598. They had sons

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whiteway, William 1570 births 1640 deaths 17th-century English merchants Members of the Parliament of England for Dorchester English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 Mayors of Dorchester, Dorset