Sir William Waller, an English general, born in 1597, died at Osterley Park, Middlesex, Sept. 19, 1668. He was educated at Oxford and at Paris, was knighted by Charles I., and in 1640 entered parliament. When hostilities broke out, having acquired military experience abroad, he was appointed second in command of the parliamentary forces under the earl of Essex; distinguished himself in the reduction of Portsmouth (1642); subsequently sustained defeats at Lansdown, near Bath, and at Roundway Down, near Devizes (1643); gained a victory at Cherrytown Down, near Winchester, and was again defeated at Cropredy bridge in Oxfordshire (1644). The passage of the selfdenying ordinance in April, 1645, deprived him of military command, but in parliament he continued as one of the leaders of the Presbyterians; and he was one of the 11 members of the house who in June, 1647, were impeached of high treason by the army, and expelled. Subsequently he returned, and continued to sit until the Presbyterians were driven out by Col. Pride, Dec. 6, 1648. On Feb. 25, 1660, he was one of the council of state appointed by the house of commons, and he sat in the convention parliament.

He wrote " Divine Meditations upon several Occasions, with a Daily Directory" (8vo, London, 1680), and "Vindication of Sir William Waller" (8vo, 1793).