Biography

William Ashburnham was the younger brother of John Ashburnham.

He was returned as MP for Ludgershall

Ludgershall (UK Parliament constituency)

Ludgershall was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.- 1295–1640 :- 1640–1832 :- Sources :...

 in both the parliaments held in 1640 but was expelled from the Long Parliament

Long Parliament

The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...

 on 9 December 1641 for his part in the Army Plots of that year.

He fought as an officer for the Royalist cause in the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

 and in 1644 was governor of Weymouth, a place he kept four months for King Charles. Ten years later, on 3 June 1654, he was arrested and examined on the charge of complicity in the plot to murder the Protector Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

 for which Gerard and Vowel afterwards suffered. He does not, however, appear to have been sent before the high court of justice.

After the Restoration of the monarchy he was made cofferer of the royal household. He was frequently a fellow-guest and a sharer in treasury business with Pepys, who styles him an "experienced man and a cavalier". His "odd stories" are duly noted, and there was one touching the lease of Ashburnham House from the dean and chapter of Westminster, wherein the "devilish covetousness" of Dr. Busby was commemorated. He was returned again as MP for Ludgershall from 1661 until his death in 1679.