William Harbord (politician)

William Harbord (25 April 1635-31 July 1692), of Grafton Park, was an English politician and diplomat.

Harbord was the second son of Sir Charles Harbord (1596-1679) of Charing Cross, who had been surveyor-general to Charles I. He entered Parliament in 1661 as member for Dartmouth, and subsequently also represented Thetford and Launceston.

In 1672, he became secretary to the Earl of Essex. Leaving England on the accession of James II, he served as a volunteer in the Imperial Army at Siege of Buda in 1686. He accompanied William of Orange on his invasion of England in 1688, and the following year was made a Privy Counsellor. (The Dictionary of National Biography records that he was appointed Paymaster-General at the same time, but his name is not included in the most authoritative modern list of holders of that office. [http://www.history.ac.uk/office/paymaster.html] )

He was made Vice-Treasurer of Ireland in 1690. In 1691 he was sent to Turkey as an ambassador to mediate between Sultan Ahmed II and the Emperor Leopold I, but died at Belgrade before reaching his posting.

Harbord married twice. By his first wife, Mary Duck, who 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 Hatcherand by his second, Catherine Russell (niece of the Duke of Bedford), one daughter
* Letitia Harbord (d. 1722), who married Sir Rowland Winn, 3rd Baronet of Nostell

References

*
* [http://www.stirnet.com/HTML/genie/british/hh4aa/harbord1.htm#top Harbord genealogy]
* Concise Dictionary of National Biography (1930)