Sir William Acton, 1st Baronet

Sir William Acton, 1st Baronet (died 22 January 1651) was an English merchant and Royalist.

Acton was the son of Richard Acton of London.[1] He was a city of London merchant and a member of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors. On 12 February 1628 he was elected an alderman of the City of London for Aldersgate ward. He was Sheriff of London in 1628.[2] He was created a baronet on 30 May 1629.[1]

In 1640, Acton was due to be elected Lord Mayor of London but in an unprecedented vote he was passed over because of his strong Royalist views and Edmund Wright was voted in as the compromise candidate.[3]

Acton's daughter and sole heiress Elizabeth, who married Sir Thomas Whitmore, 1st Baronet brought great wealth to that family. The baronetcy became extinct on Acton's death.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 William Betham The baronetage of England Volume 2
  2. ↑ 'Chronological list of aldermen: 1601-1650', The Aldermen of the City of London: Temp. Henry III - 1912 (1908), pp. 47-75. Date accessed: 16 July 2011
  3. ↑ 'Appendix B: Sir Edmund Wright's election as Lord Mayor', Survey of London Monograph 13: Swakeleys, Ickenham (1933), pp. 39-42. Date accessed: 20 February 2013
Civic offices
Preceded by
Henry Garraway		 Lord Mayor of the City of London
1640 		Succeeded by
Edmund Wright
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