William Harbord of Grafton Park, was an English politician and diplomat.

Life

Harbord was the second son of Sir Charles Harbord (1596–1679) of Charing Cross, who had been surveyor-general to Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

. He entered Parliament in 1661 as member for Dartmouth

Dartmouth (UK Parliament constituency)

Dartmouth, also at some times called Clifton, Dartmouth and Hardness, was a parliamentary borough in Devon which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in 1298 and to the Commons of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom from 1351 until 1832, and then one member from...

, and subsequently also represented Thetford

Thetford (UK Parliament constituency)

Thetford was a constituency of the British House of Commons. It elected two Members of Parliament by the bloc vote system of election until it was disenfranchised in 1868...

 and Launceston

Launceston (UK Parliament constituency)

Launceston, also known at some periods as Dunheved, was a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall which returned two Members of Parliament to the British House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, and one member from 1832 until 1918...

.

In 1672, he became secretary to the Earl of Essex

Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex

Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex PC , whose surname is sometimes spelled Capel, was an English statesman.-Early life:...

. In the debates of 1676-8
Harbord spoke often against the alliance with France, and pressed for the removal of all
papists from the king's person. He was a firm believer in the reality of the Popish Plot

Popish Plot

The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy concocted by Titus Oates that gripped England, Wales and Scotland in Anti-Catholic hysteria between 1678 and 1681. Oates alleged that there existed an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Charles II, accusations that led to the execution of at...

, and in concert
with Ralph Montagu, whom he helped to get into parliament, took an important part in the attack on the Earl of Danby

Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds

Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, KG , English statesman , served in a variety of offices under Kings Charles II and William III of England.-Early life, 1632–1674:The son of Sir Edward Osborne, Bart., of Kiveton, Yorkshire, Thomas Osborne...

. In the parliament of 1679, in which he represented Thetford, he spoke against Danby's pardon, attacked Lauderdale, and was eager for the disbanding of the army.

Leaving England on the accession of James II

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

, he served as a volunteer in the Imperial Army at Siege of Buda in 1686. He accompanied William of Orange

William III of England

William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...

 on his invasion of England in 1688, and the following year was made a Privy Counsellor and Paymaster of the Forces in Ireland.

He was made Vice-Treasurer of Ireland in 1690. In 1691 he was sent to Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 as an ambassador to mediate between Sultan Ahmed II

Ahmed II

Ahmed II Khan Ghazi was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1691 to 1695...

 and the Emperor Leopold I

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...

, but died at Belgrade

Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

 before reaching his posting.

Family

Harbord married twice. By his first wife, Mary Duck, daughter of Arthur Duck

Arthur Duck

Arthur Duck, LL.D., was an English lawyer and Member of Parliament.-Life:Born at Heavitree in Devon in 1580, the younger son of Richard Duck of Heavitree, by his wife, Joanna, and younger brother of Nicholas Duck, he was educated at Exeter College and Hart Hall, Oxford , and elected a fellow of...

, whom he married in 1661, he had three daughters,

• Mary Harbord (d.1715), who married Sir Edward Ayscough (1650–1699),
• Margaret Harbord, who married Robert King, 2nd Baron Kingston,
• Grace Harbord, who married Thomas Hatcher;

and by his second, Catherine Russell (niece of the 1st Duke of Bedford

William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford

William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford KG PC was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he inherited his Peerage and sat in the House of Lords...

), one daughter,

• Letitia Harbord (d. 1722), who married Sir Rowland Winn, 3rd Baronet, of Nostell.