FOXWIST, WILLIAM (1610-c. 1660),
b. at Caernarvon 1610, heir of Richard Foxwist by Ellen, daughter of William Thomas of Aber. In 1628 he matriculated from Jesus College, Oxford, 1636, entered Lincolns Inn 14 Feb. and was called to the Bar 17 May 1645. He became recorder of S. Albans; was elected (1649) bencher of Lincoln's Inn 6 Feb. He was appointed in 1646 judge of the admiralty for North Wales; in 1655-9 he was puisne justice of Brecknock circuit; in 1660, judge advocate of Chester circuit; was M.P., Caernarvon 1647-8, Anglesey 1654-5, Swansea 1659, and S. Albans 1660; and acted as steward for manors of sequestered Royalists under the Committee for the Advance of Money. A moderate Parliamentarian and a supporter of the protectorate, he seems to have succeeded in making his peace at the Restoration and he probably d. shortly after 1660. [See Thomas family of Coed Alun and Aber.]
Bibliography:
- W. R. Williams, Parl. Hist., 4, and Welsh Judges, 60-1;
- Old Wales, i, 257-9, 378-9;
- J. E. Griffith, P.A.C.F., 354.
Author:
Professor Glyn Roberts, M.A., (1904-1962), Bangor
