Family and Education

b. by 1525.1

Offices Held

Subsidy collector, New Windsor 1548, 1560, 1563; chamberlain 1553, 1554, alderman 1557, 1558, mayor 1559, 1566.2

Biography

The origins of William Hanley have not been traced. He is first glimpsed at Windsor in 1546, when he was assessed on goods at 14d., and thereafter he was included regularly in the town’s assessment until 1563. The next surviving roll, for 1571, does not mention Hanley, who had presumably left the town or died in the meantime. In 1551 he was required to pay 10s. on £10 worth of goods, which seems to place him among the dozen wealthiest townsmen. His trade is not recorded, although between 1548 and 1558 he was paid for supplying paper and sealing wax to the corporation. His Membership was a stepping-stone in his municipal career. He was not Windsor’s original choice with William Norris for the last Parliament of Mary’s reign, but on 14 Jan. 1558, six days before its assembly, he replaced one of the porters of the castle, Richard Ward I, who had been repeatedly returned for the town during the previous 16 years. The election indenture, which is the only source for this episode, furnishes no clue as to why Ward should have stood down. The Journal does not mention Hanley, who as mayor in 1559 received parliamentary expenses for six days amounting to 6s. Re-elected for a second term as mayor in the mid 1560s, he is not known to have left any family. If he made a will, it has not been found.3

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: T. F.T. Baker

Notes

• 1. Date of birth estimated from first reference.
• 2. Windsor recs. Wi/FA c.1, ff. 53v, 59, 60, 60, 70v; E179/74/217, 221; R. R. Tighe and J. E. Davis, Windsor Annals, i. 615, 619.
• 3. E179/73/167, 74/201, 205; 217, 221, 233; Windsor recs. Wi/FA c. 1, ff. 53v-72 passim, C219/18B/7.