WILLY, William (?1703-65), of New Park Devizes, Wilts.

Willy was a London merchant of Barge Yard, Bucklersbury. His brother was mayor of Devizes in 1749 and 1758, and his brother-in-law, a Devizes clothier, was mayor in 1744. Returned as a Whig for Devizes in 1747, he was classed as a government supporter, though the 2nd Lord Egmont, in his electoral survey c.1749-50, noted that ‘Willy seems inclined very much to us’. He died 22 May 1765, aged 61, and was succeeded at Devizes by his nephew, James Sutton.