Sir Edmund Moundeford (1596 – May 1643) was an English 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. ...

at various times between 1628 and 1643. Moundeford was the son of Sir Edmund Moundeford of

Mundford Mundford is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated at the intersection of two major routes, the A134 Colchester to King's Lynn road and the A1065 Mildenhall to Fakenham road, about north west of Thetford. ...

and

Hockwold Hockwold cum Wilton (''"Hock/mallow wood and willow-tree farm/settlement"'') is 10 miles west of Thetford, Norfolk, England and is in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. It is located near several USAF airbases, notably RAF Lakenheath a ...

, Norfolk, and his first wife Frances Gawdy, daughter of Sir Thomas Gawdy of

Claxton, Norfolk Claxton is a small village south-east of Norwich, and south of the River Yare, between Rockland St. Mary and Loddon in South Norfolk, England. In the 2001 census it contained 85 households and a population of 244, the population increasing to ...

. He attended school at

Wymondham Wymondham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, south-west of Norwich, England, Norwich off the A11 road (England), A11 road to London. The River Tiffey runs through ...

, Norfolk under Mr Eston and was admitted at

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

on 16 January 1612 aged 16. In 1628, he 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 of ...

for

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...

and sat until 1629 when King

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...

decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. He was knighted on 9 December 1629. He was a friend of

John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1587/88 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led t ...

and was interested in trying to found a

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

colony in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

.James Truslow Adams ''The Founding of New England''
/ref> In April 1640, Moundeford was elected MP for

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

. He was re-elected MP for Norfolk 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 his death in 1643. By deed dated 10 September 1642, he left property consisting of marsh or fen ground in

Feltwell Feltwell is a village which holds an RAF base 10 miles (16 km) west of Thetford, Norfolk, England, and is in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. Landmarks and facilities Feltwell has the largest area of any parish in Norfolk. It is ...

, Norfolk, to pay for clothing for the poor of the village and a free school "for the teaching the children of the inhabitants grammar and other learning, freely". There was sufficient income to pay for eight

almshouses An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

at Feltwell.Feltwell Sir Edmunf Moundeford
/ref> Moundeford died without issue and was buried at Feltwell on 11 May 1643. He left much of his estate to his half-sister Elizabeth. Moundeford had four half-sisters through his father's second marriage to Abigail Knyvett, of whom Elizabeth, married firstly

Miles Hobart Sir Miles Hobart (Circa 1598 – 20 June 1632) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1628 to 1629. Hobart was the son of Miles Hobart of London & Harleyford (though others have confused him with the son of Sir Henry Hob ...

and secondly Sir Hugh Cartwright, and Muriel married Sir Henry Clere, first and last of the Clere baronets of Ormesby. She had one surviving child, Abigail, familiar to readers of the

Diary of Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

as "Madam Williams", the mistress of his colleague

William Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker William Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker, PRS (1620 – 5 April 1684) was an Irish born mathematician who introduced Brouncker's formula, and was the first president of the Royal Society. He was also a civil servant, serving as a commission ...

. She married John Williams or Cromwell, a cousin of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moundeford, Edmund 1596 births 1643 deaths Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge People from Thetford Members of the Parliament of England for Norfolk Members of the Parliament of England for Thetford English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648