Matthew Ley was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

 from 1597 to 1614.

Ley was the second son of Henry Ley. In 1578 he and his brother James

James Ley, 1st Earl of Marlborough

James Ley, 1st Earl of Marlborough was Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench in Ireland and then in England; he was an English Member of Parliament and was Lord High Treasurer from 1624 to 1628. On 31 December 1624, James I created him Baron Ley, of Ley in the County of Devon, and on 5 February...

  purchased the manor of Brembridge, near Westbury, and he later acquired Heywood north of Westbury. In 1597, he was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Westbury

Westbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Westbury was a parliamentary constituency in Wiltshire from 1449 to 2010. It was represented in the House of Commons of England until 1707, and then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801...

. He was re-elected MP for Westbury in 1601 and in 1604. He was re-elected MP for Westbury again in 1614. In 1623 he succeeded to the property of his brother William.

Ley married Margaret Foster, widow of Sir Humphrey Foster and daughter of Mr Barret of Essex, in 1602.