William Fortescue (judge)
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The Right Honourable Sir William Fortescue KC |
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| Master of the Rolls | |
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In office 5 November 1741 – 15 December 1749 |
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| Preceded by | Sir John Verney |
| Succeeded by | Sir John Strange |
| Attorney General for the Duchy of Cornwall | |
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In office 1730–1736 |
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| Preceded by | William Lee |
| Succeeded by | Robert Pauncefort |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1687 |
| Died | December 15, 1749 (aged 61–62) |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Oxford |
| Profession | Barrister, judge, politician |
Sir William Fortescue PC KC (1687 – 15 December 1749) of Buckland Filleigh, Devon, was a British judge and Master of the Rolls 1741–1749.
Fortescue was the only son and heir of Henry Fortescue (1659–1691) of Buckland Filleigh by his wife Agnes Dennis, daughter of Edward Dennis of Barnstaple, North Devon. The manor of Buckland Filleigh had been acquired by his 6-times great-grandfather William Fortescue (d.1548), the 2nd son of Martin Fortescue (d.1472), who had married the heiress of Filleigh (later the seat of his descendant Earl Fortescue) and Weare Giffard. Martin was the son and heir of Sir John Fortescue (c. 1394 – c. 1480) of Ebrington in Gloucestershire, Chief Justice of the King's Bench of England and the author of De Laudibus Legum Angliæ and was the nephew of the latter's elder brother Sir Henry Fortescue (fl. 1426), Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland.
Fortescue was educated at Barnstaple Grammar School in North Devon, where he met the poet John Gay (1685–1732), who become a lifelong friend. He matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford in 1705.
The early death of Fortescue's wife prompted him to become a barrister, and he was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1714, and transferred to the Inner Temple later in the same year before his call to the Bar in July 1715.
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