Sir Edward Giles (1566–1637) of Bowden House,

Ashprington Ashprington is a village and civil parish in the South Hams district of Devon, England. The village is not far from the River Dart, but high above it, and is about three miles south of Totnes. There is a local pub, hotel and phonebox. The ci ...

, near

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-so ...

, Devon, 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 1597 and 1629.

Origins

Giles was the son John Giles of Bowden, Member of Parliament for

, and was baptised at Totnes on 21 July 1566. Edward's great-grandfather, John Giles, was also MP for

. His Great-Grandfather was one of the richest merchants in Devon and owned properties in and around Totnes,

Dean Prior Dean Prior is a village and civil parish near the A38 road, in the South Hams district, in the county of Devon, England. It is located near the town of Buckfastleigh and north of South Brent. Dean Prior has a Grade I listed church dedicated to ...

, Bowden and Ashprington.

Career

He matriculated at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...

on 1 February 1583, aged 17. He was a student of 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 1584. In 1597 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

. He was knighted on 23 July 1603 and appointed

High Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative f ...

for 1612–13. In 1614 he was elected MP for

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. He was elected MP for Totnes again in 1621 and was re-elected in 1624 and 1625. In 1628 he was elected MP for Totnes again and sat until 1629 when King Charles I decided to rule without Parliament for eleven years. 'Alumni Oxonienses, 1500-1714: Gabel-Gilmore', Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714: Abannan-Kyte (1891), pp. 542-568. Date accessed: 19 November 2011
/ref>

Marriage and children

On 28 January 1587 at Newton St Cyres, near Crediton, Devon, Giles married Mary Drewe daughter and heiress of Edmond Drewe of Hayne, Newton St Cyres, Devon, and widow of Walter Northcote (1566–1587), younger brother of John Northcote (1570–1632) of Uton and Hayne, Newton St Cyres, the latter who was ancestor of the

Northcote Baronets There have been two baronetcies created for members of the Northcote family, one in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. One creation is extinct. The Northcote Baronetcy, of Hayne in the County of Devon, wa ...

and the

Earls of Iddesleigh Earl of Iddesleigh ( ), in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1885 for the Conservative politician Sir Stafford Northcote, 8th Baronet, of Pynes in the parish of Upton Pyne near Exeter i ...

. By his wife he had one son, Adam (born 21 March 1595 in

Newton Toney Newton Tony (formerly Newton Toney) is a rural English village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, close to the border with Hampshire. Situated in the River Bourne, Wiltshire, Bourne Valley, Newton Tony is abo ...

, Wiltshire), and one daughter, neither of whom survived him.

Death and burial

Giles died at the age of 71 and was buried in St George's Church, Dean Prior, where survives his monument erected in 1642.

Pevsner, Nikolaus Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (19 ...

& Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.333

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giles, Edward 1566 births 1637 deaths Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Totnes English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1614 English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1628–1629 High Sheriffs of Devon Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Devon