William de Aton, 2nd Baron Aton

Sir William Aton (died before March 1389), sometimes called Baron Aton, of West Ayton in Yorkshire, was an English landowner, soldier and administrator who in 1371 was summoned to Parliament as a baron. His son died before him without children and any hereditary title lapsed. Origins Born about 1299, he was the son and heir of Sir Gilbert Aton, who died after 10 April 1350. Career About 1320, when he reached his majority, he was created a knight and it is assumed that he later participated in the wars of King Edward III in France. In 1359, like his father before him, he was summoned to a meeting of the King's Council and in 1370 was summoned to a session of Parliament. By later theory this created a hereditary barony, but there is no record of him attending further sessions and he continued to call himself Sir William Aton, knight. He was chosen as High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1368–70 and again for 1372–73, but in 1377, aged about 78, he obtained an exemption for the rest of his life from being appointed a sheriff, a justice of the peace, or a mayor. In 1386, recording his age as 87 and saying he had been a knight for 66 years (but not a baron), he was a witness in the celebrated case of Scrope v Grosvenor. He died before March 1389.