Sir William Portman, 6th Baronet

Arms of Portman:*Or, a fleur-de-lis azure*

Sir William Portman, 6th Baronet (5 September 1643 – 18 March 1690) FRS was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1661 and 1690.

Portman was the son of

baronetcy on the death of his father in 1646.^[1]

In 1661, Portman was elected

Member of Parliament for Taunton for the Cavalier Parliament and held the seat until 1679.^[2] In 1679 he was elected MP for Somerset where he sat until 1685.^[3]

He was then elected MP for Taunton again, and held the seat until his death in 1690.

Portman married three times but died without issue and the baronetcy became extinct.[1]

Life

He was the eldest son of Sir William Portman, 5th Baronet (1610–1648) of Orchard Portman, by Anna, daughter and coheiress of John Colles of Barton. The father was returned for Taunton to both the Short and Long parliaments of 1640, but was disabled, as a royalist, to sit on 5 February 1644. On his death in 1648, William succeeded him as sixth baronet.^[4]

He matriculated at

Knight of the Bath. He represented Taunton in parliament from 1661 until 1679, and from 1685 till his death. From 1679 to 1681 he sat for the county of Somerset. Apart from Sir Edward Seymour, he was accounted as influential a tory as any in the west of England.^[4]

He was a strong ‘abhorrer’ during the exclusion crisis in Charles II's reign, and while attending parliament in May 1685 he received a mysterious warning of the

battle of Sedgmoor (6 July 1685) Portman, with the Somerset militia, formed a chain of posts from Poole to the northern extremity of Dorset, with a view to preventing Monmouth's escape. On 8 July he and Lord Lumley captured the fugitive Duke near Ringwood in the New Forest, and did not trust him out of their sight until he was delivered safe at Whitehall.^[4]

In November 1688 Portman joined the

Fellow of the Royal Society on 28 December 1664.^[4]

Family and heirs

difference

of a chevron ermine in place of a chevron argent

He married three times, but had no issue. He married firstly in 1661, Elizabeth, daughter and coheiress of Sir John Cutler, 1st Baronet by his first wife; secondly in 1674, Elizabeth, the daughter and coheiress of Thomas Southcote of Buckland Tout Saints, Devon and thirdly in 1682, Mary, the daughter and heiress of Sir John Holman, 1st Baronet of Banbury, Oxfordshire.^[5]

He left his valuable estate to his first cousin Henry Seymour (d. 1728), the 5th son of his aunt Anne Portman (d.1695) and her husband

Edward Berkeley Portman, 1st Viscount Portman (1799-1888). Bryanston Square is named after Bryanston, the seat and estate purchased by Sir William in Dorset shortly before his death.^[4]

Sources

History of Parliament, House of Commons, Members 1660-1690, published by
History of Parliament Trust
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). "Portman, William (1641?-1690)". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 46. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

References

^ ^a ^b William Courthope, Debrett's complete peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)
^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Portman, William (1641?-1690)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
^ "PORTMAN, Sir William, 6th Bt. (1645-90), of Orchard Portman, Som. and Bryanston, Dorset". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
^ Deed Poll Office: Private Act of Parliament 1735 (9 Geo. 2). c. 22
^ Debrett's Peerage, 1968

Parliament of England
Preceded by Thomas Gorges Sir William Wyndham, 1st Baronet	John Trenchard	Succeeded by John Trenchard
Preceded by Sir John Sydenham, 2nd Baronet Sir Hugh Smith	Member of Parliament for Somerset 1679–1685 With: George Speke	Succeeded by Sir John Smith George Horner
Preceded by John Trenchard	Member of Parliament for Taunton 1685–1690 With: John Sanford Edward Clarke	Succeeded by John Speke Edward Clarke
Baronetage of England
Preceded by William Portman	Baronet (of Orchard) 1645–1690	Extinct

[Debrett-1] William Courthope, Debrett's complete peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

[2] Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)

[3] Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)

[DNB-4] "Portman, William (1641?-1690)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

[5] "PORTMAN, Sir William, 6th Bt. (1645-90), of Orchard Portman, Som. and Bryanston, Dorset". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 27 April 2019.

[6] Deed Poll Office: Private Act of Parliament 1735 (9 Geo. 2). c. 22

[7] Debrett's Peerage, 1968

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