William Lygon ca.1613-1680

William LYGON ca.1613-1680

Biographical Note

Born at Madresfield, Worcester, son of Sir William Lygon, where the family had been landowners for many generations. Matriculated at Lincoln College, Oxford in 1631, but did not graduate. He inherited the family estates (heavily in debt) while still a minor after the early death of his father ca.1619. He was a colonel in the parliamentary army during the Civil War, reputedly turned against the Crown by disputes around taking control of his estate from the Court of Wards on coming of age; he was defeated by royalist forces in 1646 who temporarily took control of Madresfield. The estate was returned shortly afterwards.

Books

Lygon’s probate inventory refers to 88 folios, 78 quartos, 195 octavos, 24 duodecimos, 4 sextodecimo and 236 pamphlets “in the study within the … Great Parlour” (the titles are not listed), valued at £44, within a total estate valued at £1738. These would have been inherited by his son William (1642-1721). The Madresfield estate has remained largely intact and it is to be assumed that many of these books may remain there today.

Sources

• J. Foster, Alumni Oxonienses. London, 1888.
• Wanklyn, M. (ed), Inventories of Worcestershire landed gentry, 1637-1786, 1998, 228.
• Mulvagh, J. Madresfield, 2008.
• Cliffe, J. The world of the country house in 17th-century England, 1999, p.164.