Sir Francis Darcy (died 29 November 1641) was an English soldier 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 1601 and 1629. Darcy was the son of Sir Arthur Darcy. His grandfather Thomas, Lord Darcy was executed for treason in 1537. He became a captain in Colonel Morgan’s regiment under the

Earl of Leicester Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837. Early creations ...

and served in the

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in 1585. In 1591 he served under the

Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

and was knighted at the siege of Rouen in that year. He settled at

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a town located within the London Borough of Hounslow in West London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's or ...

in 1592 and became a J.P. by 1596 and a commissioner for musters in 1598, "being a gentleman of great experience in martial affairs". He was appointed a colonel of foot in the Earl of Essex’s Irish expedition in 1599. He became provost marshal of Middlesex in 1601. Also in 1601, 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

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a car ferry service operated by Wightlink. It is within the ...

. He was an ambassador to

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and also an equerry of the stable in 1603. In 1621 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 elected MP for Middlesex again in 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament and did so for eleven years. History of Parliament Online - Francis Darcy
/ref> Darcy died in 1641 and was buried with his wife at Isleworth, where an elaborate monument was erected. Darcy married Katherine (or Elizabeth) Legh, daughter of Edward Legh of Rushall,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

in about 1591. They had three daughters. He was brother of Edward Darcy and Sir Henry Darcy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darcy, Francis Year of birth missing 1641 deaths English MPs 1601 English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1628–1629 16th-century English soldiers 17th-century English diplomats