Major General William Selwyn (1655 – 6 April 1702) was an officer in the British Army, MP and briefly Governor of Jamaica.
He was the 5th and eldest surviving son of William Selwyn of Matson, Gloucestershire and Margaret, the daughter of Edward Nourse of Gloucester and was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, matriculating on 11 April 1674.
[1] Selwyn served in the Army of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, in the time of King Charles II.
He served at the head of his regiment at the Battle of Landen on 29 July 1693, distinguishing himself under the eye of the King William III.
Although he was naturally a Whig, being from the Gloucester countryside, Selwyn was on duty at the execution[5] of William, Lord Russell, the leader of the Country Party.