DUCKETT, William (1624-86), of Calston House, Calne and Hartham, Corsham, Wilts.

Of Norman descent, the Duckett family first settled in Wiltshire during the reign of Elizabeth I, with the purchase of the manor of Calne by William Duckett’s grandfather, Stephen Duckett†.16G.F. Duckett, Duchetiana (1874), 23, 35-7. Stephen Duckett was the first member of the family to enter Parliament, as MP for Calne in 1584, and he was followed by his sons, Lionel† (in 1601), and William’s father, John Duckett† (in 1621 and 1624).17HP Commons 1558-1603; HP Commons 1604-1629. The family did not represent the borough in Parliament again until 1659, but as lords of the manor were in a strong position to influence intervening elections, as in March 1640, when Walter Norborne* was returned on the Duckett interest. The family supported the king during the first civil war, though there is no evidence that William Duckett or his father, a royalist colonel, ever compounded for delinquency. However, the family seat at Calston was destroyed in the fighting, and there is a family tradition that John Duckett escaped parliamentarian forces hidden in a coffin.18Duchetiana, 38. The house was never rebuilt, and after his father’s death in 1648, William Duckett re-established the family home at nearby Harsham, where he lived sufficiently peaceably to warrant his appointment as JP and assessment commissioner for Wiltshire in 1652.19Duchetiana, 40-2; C193/3/4; A. and O.

Calne lost its franchise in 1654 under the terms of the Instrument of Government, but on its restoration in 1659, Duckett immediately reasserted his family’s influence in the election, and was one of the Members returned, alongside another local landowner, Edward Bayntun*. Duckett made very little impact on the Commons, however, and it is perhaps appropriate that his only mention in the Journals, on 2 March, was a grant of leave of absence for a fortnight.20CJ vii. 610a. In June 1659 it was reported by a royalist agent that Duckett ‘seemed ready to assist’ an incipient rising, but he was not implicated in the rebellion associated with George Boothe* later in the summer.21CCSP iv. 225. As Member for Calne in the Convention and Cavalier Parliaments, Duckett was to prove similarly unimpressive, and his reluctance to serve in local government was punished by the privy council in April 1680 with the temporary withdrawal of his militia command and deputy-lieutenancy.22HMC 10th Rep. iv., 115.

Duckett died on 1 Nov. 1686 and was buried at Calne on 5 November.23Duchetiana, 43. He was succeeded by his only son, Lionel†, who became MP for Calne in 1679 and 1689.24HP Commons 1660-1690. As his landed estate had already been settled on his son, Duckett used his will to fulfil the terms of his third wife’s jointure, bequeathing to her houses and land in Bath and first choice of the household goods from their house at Hartham. The remainder of the personal estate was left to his son on two conditions: that he allowed the widow to enjoy her bequest in peace, and that he honoured two bonds entered into by his father. Duckett provided £100 for his funeral costs, and left £10 to the poor of Calne.25PROB11/386/4.