William Morton

Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Morton (1605 – 23 September 1672) was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640 and from 1663 to 1665. He fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War.

Life Morton was born in Newcastle, Northumberland, the son of James Morton of Clifton-on-Severn, Worcestershire and his wife Jane Cookes. He was admitted at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge on 30 June 1618 and matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford in October 1621 aged 15. He was awarded BA from Cambridge in 1622. He was admitted at Inner Temple on 22 October 1622. He received MA in 1625 and was called to the bar on 28 November 1630, After the outbreak of the English Civil War he became a ferverent supporter of the Royalists, being described at the time as

Serving as High Sheriff of Gloucestershire and in Lord Chandos's Regiment of Horse, Morton was knighted by Charles I on 8 September 1643, and later promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and made commander of the garrison of Sudeley Castle. The castle fell on 8 June 1644, after one of his officers betrayed the Royalists, and Morton and 300 of his men were taken to the Tower of London. On 1 October 1647, he was ordered to be removed to Peter House.

At the Restoration, Morton became Serjeant-at-Law on 6 July 1660, Recorder of Gloucester on 18 April 1662 and King's Serjeant on 1 July 1663. He served as a Justice of the King's Bench under Sir Matthew Hale from 23 November 1665 until his death on 23 September 1672.

Morton died aged 68 and was buried in the Temple Church, London on 1 October 1672 where there is a monument.