Sir Edward Spencer (1594 – 16 February 1656) was an English landowner, lawyer, knight, nobleman, and 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 1621 and 1648.

Life

Spencer was the son of

Robert Spencer, 1st Baron Spencer of Wormleighton Robert Spencer, 1st Baron Spencer of Wormleighton KG (157025 October 1627) was an English nobleman, peer, politician, landowner, and MP from the Spencer family. Life He was born in Althorp, Northamptonshire, the son of John Spencer and Ma ...

and his wife Margaret Willoughby the daughter of Sir Francis Willoughby and Elizabeth Lyttelton. He was baptised at Brington on 2 March 1594. He matriculated at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

on 13 November 1609, aged 14 and was awarded BA on 18 February 1612. In 1618 he was called to the bar at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

. 'Alumni Oxonienses, 1500-1714: Spackman-Stepney', Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714 (1891), pp. 1394-1422. Date accessed: 22 May 2012
/ref> Boston manor front 2943

In 1621, Spencer 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

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, bordering Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, from Oxford and from Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the inters ...

. He was re-elected MP for Brackley in 1624 and 1625. He was of

Boston Manor Boston Manor is an English Jacobean manor house built in 1622 with internal alterations, intensively restored in later centuries and Boston Manor Park is the adjoining publicly owned green space including a lake. It was the manor house of ...

when he was knighted at Hampton Court on 27 December 1625. In 1626 he was elected MP for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. He was re-elected MP for Middlesex in May 1648 as a recruiter to 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 ...

, but 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 ...

in December. Spencer died at the age of 61 and was buried at

Great Brington Great Brington is a village in Northamptonshire, England, in the civil parish of Brington, which at the 2011 Census had a population of about 200. St Mary the Virgin's church is the parish church. The villages name means 'Farm/settlement con ...

, Northamptonshire.Arthur Collins, Sir Egerton Brydges ''Collins's peerage of England; genealogical, biographical, and ..., Volume 1''
/ref>

Family

Spencer married Lady Margaret Reade, widow of Sir William Reade of Osterley and daughter of John Goldsmith of Welby Suffolk. She was the builder of the Jacobean Boston Manor in 1622.London Metropolitan Archives - Clitherow family
/ref> They had no children.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Edward 1594 births 1656 deaths Landowners from the Kingdom of England English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1640–1648 Younger sons of barons