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WOODROFFE, George (c.1625-88), of Poyle, Seale, Surr.
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Biography Detail
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Family and Education
b. c.1625, 2nd s. of Robert Woodroffe (d.1639) of Poyle by Lettice, da. of George Duncombe of Shalford. educ. Christ Church, Oxf. matric. 28 Mar. 1642, aged 17. m. 10 Oct. 1650, Frances (d. 27 Jan. 1688), da. of John Smith of Riehull, Peper Harrow, Surr., 3s. (1 d.v.p.) 6da. suc. bro. c.1659; kntd. 19 May 1681.
Offices Held
J.p. Surr. Mar. 1660-d., commr. for militia Mar. 1660, assessment Aug. 1660-80, charitable uses, Haslemere 1662; freeman, Guildford 1662; sheriff, Surr. 1668-9, commr. for recusants 1675, rebuilding of Southwark 1677, dep. lt. 1683-?Feb. 1688.
Biography
Poyle was purchased by Woodroffe’s greatgrandfather, a London Haberdasher, in 1581. At the Restoration Woodroffe was proposed for the order of the Royal Oak with an income of £1,500. An opponent of exclusion, he survived the purge of the county bench in 1680, and stood for Haslemere, ten miles from Poyle, at the general election of 1681. Together with Sir William More, the patron of the borough, he defeated the country candidates, and became the first of the family to enter Parliament. He took no known part in the proceedings at Oxford, but was knighted in May on presenting a loyal address from his constituency approving the dissolution.
Woodroffe kept his seat at the general election of 1685, but was again totally inactive in James II’s Parliament. He died on 6 Dec. 1688 and was buried at Seale. His son George sat for Haslemere under William and Anne as a Tory.
Misc. Gen. et Her. n.s. i. 412; ii. 379-80; Vis. Surr. (Harl. Soc. lx), 125; Manning and Bray, Surr. i. 657; iii. 175-8; Add. 6167, f. 207v; Luttrell, i. 88.
