William Stourton, 7th Baron Stourton

Who was William Stourton, 7th Baron Stourton?

William Stourton, 7th Baron Stourton was the eldest son of Edward Stourton, 6th Baron Stourton, and his wife Agnes Fauntleroy, daughter of John Fauntleroy of Dorest.

He succeeded his father as Baron Stourton in 1535. His wife was Elizabeth Dudley, daughter of Edmund Dudley. They had seven sons and two daughters, including Ursula who married Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln.

His affair with Agnes Rice, daughter of Rhys ap Gruffyd and grand-daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, caused much comment. He moved in with Agnes, living apart from his wife in their later years. At his death he left much of the Stourton estates to Agnes, resulting in years of litigation between her and his son Charles, who had quarreled bitterly with his father, calling him a "false hypocrite". He and Agnes had one daughter, also called Agnes.

He was a Member of the Parliament of England for Somerset in 1529, although he admitted to finding the office a burden, as he was then managing the family estates in place of his aged father; he asked that both of them be excused from further attendance.