MONTEAGLE, WILLIAM PARKER, 4TH BARON, and I TH BARON MORLEY (1575-1622) , was the eldest son of Edward Parker, loth Baron Morley (d. 1618), and of Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of William Stanley, 3rd Baron Monteagle (d. 1581).
He received knighthood when with Essex in Ireland in 1599, and in 160i with Catesby and others, took part in the latter's rebellion in London, when he was punished by imprisonment and a fine of L8,00o. In 1602 he supported the mission to Spain inviting Philip III. to invade England. However, he acquiesced in James I.'s accession and assisted the earl of Southampton in securing the Tower for the king. He was taken into favour, and received a summons to attend the parliament of Nov. 5, 1605, as Lord Mont eagle. On Oct. 26, 1605, he received the celebrated letter giving warning of the gunpowder plot, probably written by Francis Tresham, Lady Monteagle's brother. After having it read aloud
by Ward, a gentleman in his service and an intimate friend of Winter, one of the chief conspirators, he took it to Whitehall and showed it to Lord Salisbury and other ministers. On Nov. 4, he accompanied Lord Suffolk, the lord chamberlain, to the vault under the parliament house, where Guy Fawkes was found. Mont eagle received £700 a year for his services in averting the disaster. In 1609 he was chosen a member of the council of the Virginia Company and subscribed to its funds. The same year "disorders in his house" are reported, probably referring to his harbouring of Roman Catholic students from St. Omer. In 1618, on the death of his father, he was summoned to parliament as Baron Morley and Monteagle. He died on July 1, 1622, at Great Hallingbury, Essex.