William Oldsworth
{{short description|Member of the Parliament of England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
William Oldsworth was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1597 and 1601.
Life
Oldsworth was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1564 and became a bencher in 1584.{{cite web|title=OLDSWORTH, William (d.1603), of Gloucester|url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/oldsworth-william-1603|publisher=History of Parliament|accessdate=23 December 2022}}
He was appointed Recorder of Gloucester in 1587, being nominated by his predecessor Richard Pate, who may have sold him the office.{{cite book|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42281 |title=VCH Gloucestershire 4 The City of Gloucester|date=1988|pages=84–89|accessdate=15 October 2010}} Luke Garnons was instrumental in blocking the appointment during his term as mayor and Oldsworth was not elected to parliament, as would have been usual, in the 1588 or 1593 elections.[http://library.du.ac.in/dspace/bitstream/1/11128/3/Chapter%203.pdf Borough Patrons Essex and Cecil]
There was continuous political factionalism in Gloucester as the corporation was split between an establishment group which was sympathetic to puritan ideas, and a more populist faction, led by Garnons and John Jones, who had strong links with the cathedral and tried to encourage the freeman vote. In 1597, Garnons and Oldsworth representing opposing factions were elected Members of Parliament for Gloucester[https://books.google.com/books?id=5V09AAAAYAAJ&q=%22Browne+Willis%22 Browne Willis Notitia parliamentaria, or, An history of the counties, cities, and boroughs in England and Wales: ... The whole extracted from mss. and printed evidences 1750] and it was alleged that the bench had deliberately excluded from the poll many freemen who supported Atkyns. Oldsworth was agan elected in 1601. He was named to a number of committees in both parliaments.
He may have been a kinsman of Arnold Oldsworth, who was elected for Cirencester in 1604.
References
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Category:English MPs 1597–1598
Category:Year of death unknown
Category:Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Gloucester