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WOLRYCHE, John (c.1637-85), of Dudmaston Hall, Quatt, Salop.
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Biography Detail
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Family and Education
b. c.1637, 5th but 3rd surv. s. of Sir Thomas Wolryche, 1st Bt.†, of Dudmaston Hall by Ursula, da. of Thomas Ottley of Pitchford. educ. Stone g.s. Staffs.; Christ’s, Camb. adm. 19 May 1653, aged 16, BA 1657; G. Inn 1655, called 1661, ancient 1680. m. c.1670, Mary (d.1678), da. of Mathew Griffith, DD, chaplain to Charles I, wid. of George Elphick of Gray’s Inn, 2s. suc. fa. in Dudmaston estate 1668.
Offices Held
Freeman, Bridgnorth 1669, recorder 1676-d.; j.p. Salop 1670-d., commr. for assessment 1673-80, capt. of militia by 1679-d., dep. lt. 1683-d.
Biography
Wolryche’s ancestors had been settled in Shropshire since at least the 13th century, first sitting in 1435 for Bridgnorth. But Wolryche’s father owned considerable property near Wenlock, which he represented in three Parliaments. A commissioner of array and royalist governor of Bridgnorth, he compounded in 1646 for £730. Owing to the insanity of his eldest brother, Wolryche inherited Dudmaston on trust, which was confirmed by a private Act in 1673. He stood for Bridgnorth as a country candidate on the corporation interest at the first election of 1679, but his petition against the Whitmores was not reported. In the autumn he stood for Wenlock together with William Forester. After over a hundred non-residents had been admitted to the freedom, he narrowly defeated Sir John Weld. He was appointed to the committee of elections and privileges in the second Exclusion Parliament, and to that to consider the charges against Sir Robert Peyton. Re-elected in 1681, he was again appointed to the elections committee. Despite his opposition record, he was among the deputy lieutenants ordered to search for arms after the Rye House Plot. He was buried at Quatt on 17 June 1685, the last of his family to sit in Parliament.
Trans, Salop Arch Soc. (ser. 4.), iv. 107-46; liv. 193-5; CSP Dom. July-Sept. 1683, p. 19; CJ, ix. 578; Salop RO, 1224/21/35, Forester to Weld, 20 July 1710.
