Introduction
William Boteler (fl. 1640s and 1650s) was a member of the Parliament of England. After the English Civil War, he was appointed Major-General for Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland during the Rule of the Major-Generals.
Early life
He was born in Barnwell, Northamptonshire, the son of Noel or Neville Boteler; Ivan Roots considers that the clergyman Edward Boteler (died 1670) was his brother.
Political career
In April 1640, Boteler was elected MP for Bedford in the Short Parliament in a double return and was taken off. He became a Colonel of Horse (cavalry) in the New Model Army. He was zealous and uncompromising in his hostility to his religious and political enemies, and was a severe persecutor of Quakers in Northamptonshire. In 1656 he advocated that James Nayler should be stoned to death for blasphemy. Boteler was also aggressive in his persecution of Royalists in his area, unlawfully imprisoning the Earl of Northampton for failing to pay his taxes.
Boteler represented Bedford in the First Protectorate Parliament, and he represented Northamptonshire in the Second Protectorate Parliament from 1646 to 1658. Early in 1658, Boteler replaced William Packer as commander of Cromwell’s regiment of Horse.
Legal problems
Boteler was not returned to Third Protectorate Parliament in 1659, and he suffered a mauling by MPs over his record as a Major-General. He was exempted from pardon at the Restoration, but was not prosecuted. In 1665, he was arrested on suspicion of plotting against Charles II, and was arrested again in 1670 for attending an unlawful prayer meeting. The date of his death is not known; he worked in Oundle, Northamptonshire.