William Burnet (administrator) - Early Life

Early Life

William Burnet was born in The Hague, a leading city of the Dutch Republic, in March 1687/8. He was the first child of Mary (Scott) Burnet and Gilbert Burnet, the leading theologian in the Dutch court of William, Prince of Orange (who was Burnet's godfather) and his wife Mary. Later in 1688 William led an army across the English Channel in the Glorious Revolution, and William and Mary ascended to the English throne as corulers. Burnet's father gave the coronation sermon, was later elevated to Bishop of Salisbury, and was an ongoing influence in the English court during King William's reign. He fell out of favour when Queen Anne took the throne in 1702.

Burnet was an excellent but undisciplined scholar. He entered Oxford at the age of 13, but was dismissed for disciplinary reasons. His later education came from private tutoring (including Isaac Newton as a tutor), and he was ultimately admitted to the bar. In 1712 he married Mary, the daughter of George Stanhope, the Dean of Canterbury. They had one child, a boy, before she died in 1717.