William Oldsworth

Who is William Oldsworth?

William Oldsworth was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1597 and 1601.

Oldsworth was appointed Recorder of Gloucester in 1587. He was nominated by his predecessor Richard Pate, who may have sold him the office. Luke Garnons was instrumental in blocking the appointment for a while and Oldsworth was not elected to parliament in the following election when Garnons and Thomas Atkyns were elected as the two more populist candidates.

There was continuous political factionalism in Gloucester as the corporation was split between an establishment group which was sympathetic to puritan ideas, and a more populist faction, led by Garnons and John Jones, who had strong links with the cathedral and tried to encourage the freeman vote. In 1597, Garnons and Oldsworth representing opposing factions were elected Members of Parliament for Gloucester and it was alleged that the bench had deliberately excluded from the poll many freemen who supported Atkyns. They held their seats until 1601.