William Erle

Sir William Erle PC FRS (1 October 179328 January 1880) was an English lawyer, judge and Whig politician.

Early career Born at Fifehead Magdalen, Dorset, William was the son of the Rev. Christopher Erle of Gillingham, Dorset and Margaret née Bowles, a relative of the poet William Lisle Bowles. He sat in the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1841 for the City of Oxford but he never spoke in the house, voting steadily with his party. He was appointed counsel to the Bank of England in 1844 and did not seek re-election to parliament.

Judge Although of opposite politics to Lord Lyndhurst, Erle was made by him a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1845, becoming serjeant-at-law and being knighted. He died at his estate at Bramshott. He left no children. Fellow of the Royal Society (1860); Honorary Fellow, New College, Oxford.