See also William Duckett (disambiguation)

William Duckett (bapt. 23 May 1624 – 1 November 1686) was an English gentleman who sat in the House of Commons between 1659 and 1679.

Duckett was the son of John Duckett, of Hartham House, Corsham, Wiltshire, a Royalist gentleman, and his wife, Jane Winter or Wintour. He matriculated at St John's College, Oxford, on 3 July 1640 aged 16. He was student of the Inner Temple in 1642.^[1]

In 1659, Duckett was elected Member of Parliament for Calne in the Third Protectorate Parliament. In 1660, he was re-elected for Calne in the Convention Parliament. He was re-elected in 1661 for the Cavalier Parliament and sat until 1679.^[2] The few electors were under Duckett family control, and his father had been returned for Calne in 1621 and 1624.^[3]

Duckett married three times:

Firstly, on 6 March 1650, he married Elizabeth Henshaw (baptised 29 April 1621 – c.1654) at St Bartholomew-the-Great in London, a sister of the alchemist Thomas Henshaw, with issue including:

• Lionel Duckett (1652–1693), who was also a member of parliament for Calne.^[4][1]

Secondly, about 1655, he remarried, as a widower, the widow Anne Chapman née Knight (died 1667), with issue including:

• Jane Duckett (1657–1713)
• Three short-lived sons

Thirdly, about September 1669 (licence: 13 September 1669, Bristol), he remarried, as a widower, Margaret Moore (d. 1694), a daughter of Sir Henry Moore, 2nd Baronet, of Fawley, Berkshire. There were no documented children from this marriage.

Duckett died on 1 November 1686^[2] at his home in Calne, Wiltshire, at the age of 62. He was buried on 5 November 1686. His will was executed by his widow, Margaret, with probate on 3 January 1687.