Sir William Button
Sir William Button, first baronet (1585–1655), politician, was born on 14 July 1585, the second son of William Button (d. 1599) of Alton Priors, Wiltshire, and Jane (d. in or after 1600), daughter of John Lamb. Sir William Button died on the 28th January 1655.

Taking their name from Bitton Manor, Gloucestershire, which they anciently owned, his family had lived at Alton Priors since the twelfth century; his predecessors included two medieval bishops, of Exeter and Bath and Wells. Button was settled with the greater part of the family's estate in 1591 and four years later further property was purchased from his indebted elder brother.

Succeeding his father in 1599, Button matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, in 1601, and in 1605, when aged nineteen, he was knighted and made colonel of a regiment of foot. Two years later he was granted a licence to travel to France, but this was revoked when the privy council learned that he intended to engage in a duel there. The forestalled duel may have been an indication of his character, for he was later accused in chancery of cruelty towards his tenants and servants. In 1611 he married Ruth, a daughter of Walter Dunch of Avebury, Wiltshire, and in 1621 purchased a baronetcy.

Made a freeman of Marlborough in 1614, Button was elected knight of the shire for Wiltshire in 1628. His decision to embark upon a parliamentary career so late in life had been caused by his need to avoid creditors, for he had recently been arrested for debt in Westminster Hall.

During the civil war he sided with the royalists, and in August 1642 was appointed to declare the propositions for raising troops for the king's defence. He later contributed £500 to the royalist cause, but is not known to have taken up arms.

His house at Tockenham Court was raided by parliamentary troops in 1643 and again in 1644, when he lost nearly £1300 in chattels and livestock. After the war this property was granted to a parliamentarian. Button witnessed Oxford's surrender in June 1646, and a week later was arrested for disobeying orders to attend the committee for sequestrations in London. He was fined as a delinquent, but recovered most of his estates by 1649.

Thereafter he settled at Shaw House, having granted most of his remaining property to his several sons. He died on 28 January 1655 and was buried in a vault he had built for himself in North Wraxall church. His son William succeeded to the title.