Sir Henry Peckham (1614–1673) was an English landowner, lawyer, judge, administrator, and politician who sat in the House of Commons as MP for Chichester in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

at various times between 1654 and 1673.

Family and education

Baptised on 26 August 1614 in the church of St Mary at

Aldingbourne Aldingbourne is a mixed rural and residential civil and ecclesiastical parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, England. It is centred north of Bognor Regis and east of Chichester. The civil parish, named after the small village of Aldingb ...

near Chichester, he was the first child of William Peckham (1596-1671), a landowner in that village, and his first wife Mary Raseld (died 1628). In 1632 he was admitted to university at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, followed by legal training at the Middle Temple in 1634, and was called to the bar in 1641. On 8 May 1644, in the church of St Mary at Washington, he married Judith Goring (1623-1678), daughter of Henry Goring who lived at Highden in that parish, and his wife Mary Eversfield, daughter of Sir Thomas Eversfield, a

Sheriff of Sussex The office of Sheriff of Sussex was established before the Norman Conquest. The Office of sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord-Lieutenant the prime office ...

. Her brother was

Sir Henry Goring, 2nd Baronet Sir Henry Goring, 2nd Baronet (1 May 1622 – 3 April 1702) was an English barrister and politician. Goring was the son of Henry Goring and Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Eversfield, High Sheriff of Sussex The office of Sheriff of Sussex was es ...

. They had ten children, including the second son Henry Peckham (born 1648), who was mayor of Chichester in 1681 and 1686, and the third son John Peckham (died 1700), father of the childless Henry « Lisbon » Peckham (1683-1764), a wine merchant who built

Pallant House Pallant House Gallery is an art gallery in Chichester, West Sussex, England. It houses one of the best collections of 20th-century British art in the world. History The Gallery's collection is founded on works left to the city of Chichester by ...

in Chichester. The later Sheriff of Sussex,

Sir Thomas Peckham Sir Thomas Peckham (1691-1724) was an English landowner who served as High Sheriff of Sussex. Life Baptised on 11 December 1691 at the church of St Mary in Aldingbourne, he was the only son of Thomas Peckham (1666-1724) and his first wife Joyce ( ...

(1691-1724), was his first cousin twice removed.

Career

He was a JP for Sussex from 1647 to 1649 and from 1654 was Recorder of Chichester. In that year he was elected as Member of Parliament for Chichester in the First Protectorate Parliament. He became a JP for Sussex again in 1655 and held the position until his death. In 1656 he was re-elected MP for Chichester in the Second Protectorate Parliament and in 1657 became a commissioner for assessment for Sussex. From 1657 until his death, in addition to his position at Chichester, he was Recorder of Portsmouth. In 1659, he was re-elected MP for Chichester in the Third Protectorate Parliament and became a commissioner for assessment for Sussex from January 1660 until his death. In March 1660 he was appointed a commissioner for militia for Sussex and in April 1660 was re-elected MP for Chichester in the Convention Parliament. Further posts were as commissioner for oyer and terminer on the Home circuit in July 1660 and commissioner for sewers in West Sussex in October 1660. In 1661 he won his fifth election as MP for Chichester in the Cavalier Parliament, acquiring the additional post of Recorder of

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

on the Isle of Wight after 1661 and being knighted on 24 May 1662. He became a bencher of his Inn in 1663 and was commissioner for assessment for Chichester from 1663 to 1664. In 1669 he was promoted to serjeant-at-law and served as Reader of his Inn. He inherited his father's lands in 1671 but died at the age of 57 and was buried at the church of St Peter the Great in Chichester on 27 April 1673.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peckham, Henry 1614 births 1673 deaths Alumni of Magdalen Hall, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple People from Aldingbourne Politicians from Chichester Serjeants-at-law (England) English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 Knights Bachelor Commissioners for sewers Burials in West Sussex