Charles Wither

Charles Wither (24 July 1684 – 1731), of Oakley Hall, Hampshire, was an English landowner and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons briefly in 1708 and from 1727 to 1731.

Early life Wither was the eldest son of Charles Wither of Oakley Hall, Hampshire and his wife Dorothy Smith, daughter of Sir William Smith, 1st Baronet of Redcliff, Buckinghamshire. The family had been seated at Oakley Hall since 1626 and since then had acquired further estates in the neighbourhood, to which Wither succeeded on the death of his father in 1697. and travelled abroad in the Netherlands from 1706 to 1707. He married Frances Wavell, daughter of Thomas Wavell of Winchester, Hampshire, on 17 July 1707.

Career In 1707, Wither investigated the possibility of standing for Stockbridge at the next general election and secured local Whig support. He was appointed High Sheriff of Hampshire in November 1707, but gave up the office soon after. He stood for Parliament at Whitchurch in a contested by-election on 17 January 1708, and was seated as a Whig Member of Parliament on petition on 17 February 1708. He did not stand at the 1708 British general election.

Death and legacy Wither died on 20 November 1731, and was buried at Deane. He left three surviving daughters, a son and daughter having predeceased him. His wife Frances died in 1752, followed a day later by her eldest daughter Dorothy. Their second daughter Henrietta Maria.married Edmund Bramston and succeeded to Oakley Hall. They were the parents of Wither Bramston who rebuilt the Hall. Charles Wither's third daughter Ann married her cousin William Beech whereby Oakley Hall came into the Beech family in 1832.