Sir Henry Spiller (c. 1570 – 16 April 1649) was an English office-holder, 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. ...

between 1614 and 1629. He supported the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

cause in 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 ...

Biography

Spiller was born in about 1570, fifth son of John Spiller of

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about above sea level on a ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

. His only known education was as a law student 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 ...

in 1606, but he was already employed in government service as clerk to the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer by 1594.
History of Parliament, article by Alan Davidson and Rosemary Sgroi. He was later responsible for deriving income from recusancy, recusants and his policies led to the sale of

baronetcies 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 14th ...

from 1611. In 1612

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

granted him the manor of

Laleham Laleham is a village on the River Thames, in the Borough of Spelthorne, about west of central London, England. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, it was transferred to Surrey in 1965. Laleham is downriver from Staines-upon-Thames a ...

. 'Spelthorne Hundred: Laleham', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2: General; Ashford, East Bedfont with Hatton, Feltham, Hampton with Hampton Wick, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton (1911), pp. 396-401. Date accessed: 4 January 2012
/ref> In 1614, Spiller 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

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much large ...

. He was knighted at

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

on 20 July 1618. He obtained the manor of Colquire in Cornwall in 1618 and was one of those granted the advowson of

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up Ar ...

in 1620. He was re-elected MP for Arundel in 1621, 1624 and 1625. In 1628 he was elected MP for

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...

and

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 ...

and chose to sit for Middlesex until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. He sought re-election, to the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

of 1640, at

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Riv ...

but was defeated by Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper (who was then a minor but was backed by the influence of Lord Coventry). Ashley Cooper called Spiller "a crafty, perverse, rich man" and "a great enemy to the town and the puritans". In 1623 he had made a map of his estate at Laleham which has survived to this day.

Family

Spiller was twice married. Firstly, by 1592, to Dorothy Dicons, by whom he had two sons and two daughters, who died in 1624. His subsequent second marriage was to a woman named Anne, of unknown family, but they had no children. Both wives were reported to be

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. In 1640 Spiller's wife, Lady Anne Spiller, was charged with recusancy and she was pronounced guilty on 5 May. Spiller supported the King in the Civil War as a commissioner. He was taken prisoner at

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

where he had gone to convalesce, and incarcerated in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

. In 1646 he proposed to compound for his estates for £8,611 but the fine was unpaid when he died. Spiller was the father of

Robert Spiller Sir Robert Spiller (c. 1591–1637) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1624. Early life Spiller was the son of Sir Henry Spiller of Laleham. He matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford on 2 ...

, MP for Thetford; and Katherine who married Sir Thomas Reynell of Weybridge.

References

External links

Portrait of Sir Henry Spiller by Cornelis Johnson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiller, Henry 1649 deaths English MPs 1614 English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1628–1629 Year of birth uncertain