William Fortescue

Who was William Fortescue?

Sir William Fortescue, KC, PC was a British judge. He was the son of Henry Fortescue and his wife Agnes, and a descendant of the noted lawyer John Fortescue. Fortescue was educated at Barnstaple Grammar School and matriculated to Trinity College, Oxford in 1705. He married his cousin, Mary Fortescue on 7 July 1709, who bore him a daughter before her death on 1 August 1710. Her death prompted him to become a barrister, and he was admitted to Middle Temple in 1714, transferring to Inner Temple later in the same year before his call to the Bar in July 1715.

Fortescue was a "sound and businesslike" barrister, and a "good lawyer", and built up a strong practice. He first became involved in politics in 1724, when Robert Walpole employed him as his secretary. In 1727 he was returned as a Member of Parliament for Newport, and despite his duties as an MP and secretary to Walpole he continued his practice as a barrister. In 1730 he became a King's Counsel, and the same year was made Attorney General for the Duchy of Cornwall. On 9 February 1736 he was appointed a Baron of the Exchequer, having resigned as a MP and as Attorney General. He was transferred to the Court of Common Pleas on 7 July 1738, replacing John Comyns, and on 5 November 1741 he succeeded Sir John Verney as Master of the Rolls, becoming a Privy Councillor on 19 November. He remained Master of the Rolls until his death on 15 December 1749.