biography text
The grandson of a rich Turkey merchant, whose brother Daniel was the grandfather of Edward Harvey of Coombe, William Harvey was a Tory country gentleman and a member of the October Club, with an income of £5,000-£6,000 a year.1Add. 22248, f. 91. Returned in 1715 at a by-election for Essex, after contesting Bridport unsuccessfully, he voted against the septennial bill before being unseated on petition. Re-elected for Essex in 1722, he did not stand in 1727, dying 31 Oct. 1731.