Christopher Wren (1675–1747), of

Wroxall Abbey Wroxall Abbey is a substantial Victorian mansion house situated at Wroxall, Warwickshire which was converted for use as a hotel, spa, wedding venue and conference centre. It is a Grade II listed building. History Built in 1141 by Sir Hugh d ...

, Warwickshire was a

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 of ...

and the son of the architect Sir

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches ...

Life

Wren was the second but first surviving son of Sir Christopher Wren and his first wife, Faith Coghill, daughter of Sir John Coghill of

Bletchingdon Bletchingdon (also known as Bletchington) is a village and civil parish north of Kidlington and southwest of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. Bletchingdon parish includes the hamlet of Enslow just over west of the village. The 2011 Census r ...

in Oxfordshire. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

, Cambridge, where his father had built the new college chapel, his first completed work. His son entered the college in 1691, but left without a degree. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1693. He entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1694. In 1698/9 he travelled in Europe making an architectural tour of France, Italy and Holland with Edward Strong the Younger whose father was his father's main building contractor. This trip may indicate a friendship over and above a simple working relationship. On his return, Wren worked for his father as a clerk-of-works. He became Chief Clerk of Works in 1702 (to 1716). In 1708, he laid the last stone of the lantern which surmounts the dome of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

in the presence of his father. In 1711 he was appointed a Commissioner to organise the building of 50 new churches. He represented

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

in Parliament from 1713 to 1715. Re-elected in 1715 he lost his seat on petition. He also lost his post as Clerk of Works in 1716 and thereafter retired to live as a country squire at the

estate in Warwickshire that had been acquired by his father in 1713. Wren collected documents about the life of his father, which were later published after his own death as the ''Parentalia'' by his son Stephen in 1750. His portrait, engraved by Faber, forms the frontispiece of the ''Parentalia''. Two letters written to him by Sir Christopher while he was quite a youth, were printed in Miss Phillimore's ''Life'' (pp. 282, 302), that show their relationship was of an affectionate character. The younger Christopher was also a

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist in numismatics ("of coins"; from Late Latin ''numismatis'', genitive of ''numisma''). Numismatists include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholars who use coins and other currency in object-based research. Altho ...

of some repute (Hearne, Collections, ed. Doble, ii. 264), and he published ''Numismatum Antiquorum Sylloge'' (London, 4to) in 1708. Wren died in London on 24 August 1747. His first wife was Mary, daughter of Philip Musard, jeweler of Queen Anne. His second wife, Constance, daughter of Sir Thomas Middleton, and widow of Sir Roger Burgoyne, Bt., died on 23 May 1734. He left two surviving sons, Christopher (born 1710), who inherited Wroxall Abbey, and Stephen (born 1722).

References

Sources

*Francis Cranmer Penrose, " Christopher Wren (1675–1747)", Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 63 *D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley (editors),
WREN, Christopher (1675-1747)
of St. James’s Street, Westminster, Mdx. and Wroxall, Warws.", ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715'', at historyofparliamentonline.org, retrieved 28 August 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wren, Christopher 1675 births 1747 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Members of the Inner Temple English politicians Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 English numismatists Fellows of the Royal Society