Edward Tooker (c. 1592 – 17 April 1664) was an English lawyer, landowner 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. T ...
at various times between 1654 and 1664.
Tooker was the eldest son of
Giles Tooker
Giles Tooker (c 1565 – 25 November 1623) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1601 and 1614.
Tooker was the son of Charles Tooker, yeoman of Maddingley and his wife Matilda Nipperhead. His father died in ...
,
Recorder
Recorder or The Recorder may refer to:
Newspapers
* ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper
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* ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
and Member of Parliament for
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
, by his marriage to Elizabeth Eyre, daughter of Thomas Eyre of Salisbury. Tooker entered
Lincoln's Inn in 1610 and was
called to the bar in 1616. In 1623 he succeeded to the estates of his father at
Maddington. He became guardian to his orphaned nephew
Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, who later described him as "a very honest, industrious man, an hospitable, prudent person, much valued and esteemed, dead and alive, by all that knew him".
[ History of Parliament Online – Edward Tooker]
/ref>
Tooker became active in public life during the English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, becoming commissioner for assessment and commissioner for levying of money for Wiltshire in 1643. He was commissioner for assessment for Wiltshire from 1647 to 1652 and High Sheriff of Wiltshire
This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire.
Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle.
On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...
in 1648. He was commissioner for militia in 1648 and 1649. In 1651 he became a Justice of the Peace and in 1653 commissioner for the relief of poor prisoners. In 1654, he was elected Member of Parliament for Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
in the First Protectorate Parliament
The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the Ho ...
. He was commissioner for assessment for Wiltshire in 1657 and commissioner for militia in 1659. In 1659 he was elected as a Member for Hindon in 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 ...
. He was again commissioner for assessment for Wiltshire from January 1660 until his death and commissioner for militia in March 1660. In April 1660 he was again elected as a member of parliament for Salisbury in the Convention Parliament. He was commissioner for assessment for Salisbury from August 1660 until his death and commissioner for oyer and terminer
In English law, oyer and terminer (; a partial translation of the Anglo-French ''oyer et terminer'', which literally means "to hear and to determine") was one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat. Apart from its Law French name, the ...
on the Western circuit in July 1660. In 1661 he was re-elected as a member for Salisbury in 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 ...
and sat until his death.[
Tooker died at the age of 71 and was buried at Maddington.][
Tooker married firstly Martha Cooper, daughter of Sir John Cooper, of Pawlett, Somerset, and with her had a son and two daughters. In about 1638 he married secondly Mary Platt, the widow of William Platt of Highgate Hill, the daughter of Sir John Hungerford of Down Ampney, Gloucestershire. His only son inherited an estate of £1,000 a year and was created a ]baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...
two months after his father's death.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tooker, Edward
1590s births
1664 deaths
Members of Lincoln's Inn
High Sheriffs of Wiltshire
People from Salisbury
Place of birth missing
English MPs 1654–1655
English MPs 1659
English MPs 1660
English MPs 1661–1679