Sir William Norris, 1st Baronet

Sir William Norris, 1st Baronet (c. 1658 – 10 October 1702) was an English politician and ambassador to Aurangzeb.

He was the second son of Thomas Norris of Speke Hall, Lancashire, by Katherine, daughter of Sir Henry Garraway. The eldest son, Thomas Norris (1653–1700), was a Whig M.P. for Liverpool, 1688 to 1690 and 1690 to 1695. William succeeded his eldest brother, Thomas, as member for Liverpool in 1695, and held the seat till 1701; he was re-elected during his absence in India, but unseated on petition. He was made a baronet on 3 December 1698, of Speke, Lancashire. The title became extinct on his death.

In 1698 the new General Society or English Company (less accurately, the "New East India Company") obtained an act of parliament and letters patent from the crown for the purpose of trading to the East Indies, and in order to obtain the necessary privileges from the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, Sir William Norris, specially created a baronet for the mission, was sent out to India as king's commissioner in a ship of war, at a salary of £2,000 a year, paid by the company. He was expected to obtain the protection and privileges of the Mughal authorities in favour of the new company, in face of the opposition of the officers of the East India Company (the old or 'London' East India Company), which had been the accredited representative of British commerce in India for a century. The Old Company had its firmans from the Mughal Emperors conferring special privileges of trading.

Norris landed on 25 September 1699 at Masulipatam on the Indian east coast, where he found Consul Pitt of the English Company expecting him. The situation on the ground was complicated by the actions of Sir Nicholas Waite, the English company's representative at Surat, who had written to Aurangzeb, before Norris's arrival, to request firmans of privileges, and offering to suppress piracy on the Indian seas in return. The English company was incompetent to carry the offer into effect. Niccolao Manucci excused himself as an interpreter, and Pitt had made no preparations for the inland journey. Norris fell out with him, and sailed on 23 August 1700 for Swally (Suvali), the port on the Indian west coast for Surat, which he reached on 10 December.

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