William Waller was one of many who served in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms with great reluctance, but did so based on deeply held religious or political principles.
14 Facts About William Waller
2.
William Waller is perhaps best remembered by a letter written in 1643 to his close friend and Royalist opponent, Sir Ralph Hopton.
3.
William Waller was born in Knole, near Sevenoaks in Kent, son of Sir Thomas Waller and his wife Margaret Lennard, the daughter of Margaret Fiennes, 11th Baroness Dacre.
4.
William Waller attended Magdalen Hall, Oxford, then a well-known centre of Puritan education, but did not graduate.
5.
William Waller married three times; Jane Reynell, Lady Anne Finch, and Lady Anne Harcourt.
6.
The William Waller family held various offices in the 16th century, including constable of Dover Castle and MP for Dover, but lost most of their money in the 1590s.
7.
William Waller followed his father by becoming a professional soldier and in 1617, he joined the army of the Venetian Republic, where he met the English mercenary leader, Sir Horace Vere.
8.
William Waller inherited most of her estates, and he purchased a quarter-share in the Providence Island Company.
9.
In early 1643, William Waller was promoted Major-general and given command of the Western Association army, his opponent being Sir Ralph Hopton, an old friend leading Royalist forces in the west.
10.
William Waller assembled a new army at Farnham Castle, consisting of Trained Bands from the South-Eastern Association of Kent, Sussex and Hampshire, bolstered by others from London.
11.
William Waller's army disintegrated, causing panic in London, and allowing Charles to pursue Essex into the West Country.
12.
William Waller was arrested in 1650, allegedly for conspiring to restore Charles II, then released in early 1652.
13.
William Waller purchased Osterley Park in 1654, and while frequently questioned under the Protectorate, avoided implication in the 1655 Penruddock uprising.
14.
William Waller spent some of his time writing A Vindication of the Character and Conduct of Sir William Waller, which was not published until 1793.