Sir Anthony Irby (c. 1605 – 2 January 1682) was an

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politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

at various times between 1628 and 1682. Irby was the eldest son of Sir Anthony Irby and his wife Elizabeth Peyton, third daughter of Sir John Peyton, 1st Baronet and was born before 17 January 1605. He was admitted a fellow-commoner at Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1620. He was knighted on 2 June 1624. In 1628, Irby was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. He was

High Sheriff of Lincolnshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Lincolnshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilit ...

in 1637.History of Parliament Online - Irby, Anthony
/ref> In April 1640, Irby was elected MP for Boston again in the Short Parliament. He was re-elected MP for Boston for the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

in November 1640. He sat until 1648 when he was excluded under

Pride's Purge Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England. Despite defeat in the ...

. Irby was re-elected MP for Boston in 1656 for the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in ...

and elected for the seat again in 1659 for the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a po ...

. In April 1660 he was re-elected MP for Boston for the Convention Parliament and was elected again in 1661 for the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

. He was elected again in the second election of 1679 for the

Second Exclusion Parliament The Exclusion Bill Parliament was a Parliament of England during the reign of Charles II of England, named after the long saga of the Exclusion Bill. Summoned on 24 July 1679, but prorogued by the king so that it did not assemble until 21 Octob ...

and in 1681. Irby married firstly, in 1623, Frances Wray, daughter of Sir William Wray, 1st Baronet, and had by her an only daughter, Elizabeth, who married Hon. George Montagu. He married secondly Margaret Smyth, daughter of Sir Richard Smythe, 2nd Baronet and after her death in 1631, next Margaret Barkham, daughter of Sir Edward Barkham, 1st Baronet, who died in 1640. By his second and third wife, Irby had no surviving children, three daughters having died as infants. On 19 August 1641, he married finally Catharine Paget, third daughter of

William Paget, 4th Baron Paget William Paget, 4th Baron Paget of Beaudesert (1572 – 29 August 1629) was an English peer and colonist born in Beaudesert House, Staffordshire, England to Thomas Paget, 3rd Baron Paget and Nazareth Newton. His grandfather was William Paget, 1st ...

, and had by her a son and five daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irby, Anthony 1605 births 1682 deaths Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge High Sheriffs of Lincolnshire English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681