William Ravenscroft was an English 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...

 at various times between 1586 and 1628.

Ravenscroft was the son of George Ravenscroft. He was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford

Brasenose College, Oxford

Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m...

 in 1578, aged 17 and was awarded BA in 1580. He entered Lincoln's Inn

Lincoln's Inn

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...

 in 1580. In 1586, 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 Flintshire

Flintshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Flintshire was a parliamentary constituency in North-East Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1542 until it was abolished for the 1950 general election.- Boundaries :...

. He was called to the bar in 1589. In 1597 he was elected again as MP for Flintshire. He became Clerk of the petty bag in 1598. In 1601 he was re-elected MP for Flintshire. He was elected MP for Old Sarum

Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)

Old Sarum was the most infamous of the so-called 'rotten boroughs', a parliamentary constituency of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which was effectively controlled by a single person, until it was abolished under the Reform Act 1832. The constituency was the site of what had been...

 in 1604 and 1614. In 1621 he was elected MP for Flint. He became associate bencher and treasurer of Lincoln's Inn in 1621 and became master of the library in 1624. In 1624 he was re-elected MP for Flint. He was elected MP for Flint again in 1625 and 1628.

Ravenscroft died unmarried at the age of about 67.