William Basset was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

.

Biography

Basset was a younger son of Richard Basset, and grandson of Ralph Basset, who died about 1127. He acted as sheriff of Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

 and Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, 1163–1170 (Rot. Pip. Hen. II), till displaced, by the inquest of sheriffs, in 1170, and as sheriff of Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

 1177–84. He held pleas as a justice itinerant from 1168 to 1182 (Foss says wrongly till 1180), and sat in the Curia Regis

Curia Regis

Curia regis is a Latin term meaning "royal council" or "king's court."- England :The Curia Regis, in the Kingdom of England, was a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics that advised the king of England on legislative matters...

, when not otherwise employed, from Michaelmas 1168 to 31 May 1185 (Foss says, wrongly, till 1184), after which he appears no longer. He settled at Sapcote

Sapcote

Sapcote is a small village in the south west of Leicestershire, England, with a population of approximately 2,700. The well-known inland scuba diving site Stoney Cove is nearby.It was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Scepecote...

, Leicestershire, and was father of Simon Basset, who appears as a justice itinerant in 1197–8.