CHURCHILL, William (c.1657-1737), of Dallinghoo, Suff.

William Churchill was made bookseller, book-binder, and stationer to the King as a reward for his services at the Revolution, purchasing an estate in Suffolk in 1698. Appointed by Prince George of Denmark to be a commissioner for the sick and wounded in 1704, he gave up his place in 1707 to contest Ipswich for which he was returned in the Whig interest.Cal. Treas. Pprs. 1708-14, p. 456. Re-elected in 1710 and 1713, he was unseated on petition in 1714, but recovered his seat in 1715. In 1716 he applied to Walpole and Townshend for some recompense for his ‘suffering by the late Administration’ and his ‘losses and expenses’ for the Whig party, including the sacrifice of his salary by giving up his post to ‘save the corporation of Ipswich’, as well as ‘the expense at five elections’. His letter continued:

I have been amused so many years with promises of being provided for in the navy, that I am weary of expecting any longer nor indeed can I bear the expense of supporting the cause in the country and of attending the Parliament in town any longer without my utter ruin. Had I been provided for in the navy as promised, I intended afterwards to have asked for my family, the thing I now petition for ... It is to have a patent for 40 years for the serving the offices of the court with stationery wares, with an addition for the serving the excise and customs in the name of my brother [in-law] Castle; ’tis no more than what I enjoyed at the revolution as a reward for my services in it, and was deprived of by the frequent changes in these commissions and I have lived ever since on the hopes of this time for a restoration. The profit to me will not be more than half the interest of the money I have lost and expended by and for the public, but ’tis what I desire and will be contented with in view of all my pretences.12 May 1716, Cholmondeley (Houghton) mss.

He secured his patent,Cal. Treas. Bks. xxxi. 570. thereby vacating his seat, in which he was succeeded by his son-in-law, Francis Negus. He died February 1737.