Francis Buller (c. 1630 – 1682) 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. ...

between 1659 and 1679.

Origins

Buller was the eldest son and heir of Francis Buller, MP, of Shillingham near

Saltash Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Corn ...

in Cornwall, by his wife Thomasine Honeywood and was baptised at Saltash on 10 January 1630. His younger brother and eventual heir was John Buller (1632–1716), also a Cornish MP.

Education

He was educated at

Leyden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration with ...

in 1643Basil Duke Henning ''The House of Commons, 1660–1690''
/ref> and at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

where he was awarded BA in 1647. He also entered

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 1646, received MA from Oxford in 1649 and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1652.

Career

In 1659, Buller was elected Member of Parliament for

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

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 powe ...

. In 1660 he was elected MP for

in the Convention Parliament and re-elected in 1661 for 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 ...

remaining until 1679. He was considered one of the most powerful presbyterians in the country. In 1662 he became recorder of Saltash. He was active in parliament on behalf of the tinners of Cornwall. In 1666 he was tried under the Security Act for treason on account of indiscrete speech and was fined £30,000. He lost his own estate and his first wife's estate was alienated. Later he retired to the Cambridgeshire estate of his second wife. He received few votes in the election of 1679 and did not stand for parliament again.

Marriages and progeny

Buller married twice: *Firstly on 22 October 1652 to Elizabeth Grosse, daughter and sole heiress of Ezekiel Grosse of Gowlden, attorney of Cornwall. She inherited 17 manors from her father.Burke's Landed Gentry, 1937, p.279 Their son James Buller (d.1707) died without issue, when his heir became his uncle John Buller (1632–1716), MP. *Secondly in 1666 to Lady Catherine Maynard, daughter of John Rushout, merchant of London, and widow of Sir John Maynard of Tooting Graveney, Surrey.

Death

Buller died "in a frenzy" at the age of 52.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buller, Francis 1630s births 1682 deaths Politicians from Saltash Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall Year of birth uncertain Members of the Middle Temple Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Oxford English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...