William Pierrepont was an English politician.

Life

He was the second son of Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull

Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull

Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull was an English nobleman-Family:He was the second son of Sir Henry Pierrepont of Holme Pierrepont, Nottinghamshire, and Frances Cavendish, daughter of the Rt. Hon. Sir William Cavendish and Elizabeth Hardwick...

. Returned to the Long Parliament

Long Parliament

The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...

 in 1640 as member for Great Wenlock, he threw his influence on the side of peace and took part for the parliament in the negotiations with Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

 at Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 in 1643. Pierrepont was a member of the committee of both kingdoms

Committee of Both Kingdoms

The Committee of Both Kingdoms, , was a committee set up during the English Civil War by the Parliamentarian faction in association with representatives from the Scottish Covenanters, to oversee the conduct of the War and Foreign Policy...

, and represented the parliamentary party during the deliberations at Uxbridge in 1645; but from that time, according to Clarendon

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:...

, he forsook his moderate attitude, and contracted more bitterness and sourness than formerly. This statement, however, is perhaps somewhat exaggerated, as Pierrepont favored the resumption of negotiations with the king in 1647, and in the following year his efforts on behalf of peace at Newport

Treaty of Newport

The Treaty of Newport was a failed treaty between Parliament and King Charles I of England, intended to bring an end to the hostilities of the English Civil War...

, where again he represented the parliamentarians, brought upon him some slight censure from Cromwell.

For his services at Newport he was thanked by Parliament; but he retired from active political life soon afterwards, as he disliked the purging of the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 by Colonel Pride

Thomas Pride

Thomas Pride was a parliamentarian general in the English Civil War, and best known as the instigator of "Pride's Purge".-Early Life and Starting Career:...

 and the proceedings against the king. In spite of his moderate views Pierrepont enjoyed the personal friendship of Cromwell; but, although elected, he would not sit in the parliament of 1656, nor would he take the place offered to him in the Protector's House of Lords. When Richard Cromwell

Richard Cromwell

At the same time, the officers of the New Model Army became increasingly wary about the government's commitment to the military cause. The fact that Richard Cromwell lacked military credentials grated with men who had fought on the battlefields of the English Civil War to secure their nation's...

 succeeded his father, Pierrepont was an unobtrusive but powerful influence in directing the policy of the government, and after a short period of retirement on Richard's fall he was chosen, early in 1660, a member of the council of state. He represented Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Nottinghamshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832...

 in the Convention Parliament of 1660, and probably was instrumental in saving the lives of some of the parliamentary leaders. At the general election of 1661 he was defeated, and, spending the remainder of his life in retirement, he died in 1678.

Family

Pierrepont married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Harries, Bart.

Sir Thomas Harries, 1st Baronet

Sir Thomas Harries or Harris, 1st Baronet was an English lawyer.He was the eldest of four sons of John Harries, of Cruckton in Shropshire. He became a serjeant-at-law in 1589 and was knighted...

, of Tong

Tong, Shropshire

Tong is a village in Shropshire in England. It is near junction 3 of the M54 motorway near Albrighton.The village is remarkable mainly for its church, St Bartholomews, outside of which is the supposed grave of Little Nell, a fictional character in Charles Dickens book, The Old Curiosity Shop...

 Castle, Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

, by whom he had five sons and five daughters. His eldest son, Robert (d. 1666), was the father of Robert Pierrepont, 3rd Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull

Robert Pierrepont, 3rd Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull

Robert Pierrepont, 3rd Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull was an English peer.The eldest son of Robert Pierrepont of Thoresby, Nottinghamshire, and his wife Elizabeth Evelyn, and the grandson of William Pierrepont of Thoresby, in 1680, he succeeded his great-uncle, Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of...

, William Pierrepont, 4th Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull

William Pierrepont, 4th Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull

William Pierrepont, 4th Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull was a British peer and Member of Parliament.The second son of Robert Pierrepont of Thoresby Nottinghamshire and his wife Elizabeth Evelyn, Pierrepont was born on the Evelyn estate of West Dean, Wiltshire...

, and Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull

Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull

Evelyn Pierrepont, 5th Earl and 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull had been member of parliament for East Retford before his accession to the peerage in 1690. While serving as one of the commissioners for the union with Scotland he was created Marquess of Dorchester in 1706, and took a leading part in...

; and his third son, Gervase (1649-1715), was created in 1714 baron Pierrepont of Hanslope, a title which became extinct on his death.