Henry Whitaker ( – 6 April 1695) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1659 and 1679. Whitaker was the son of William Whitaker of Shaftesbury and his wife Honor Hooper, daughter of Thomas Hooper of Boveridge. He was admitted at

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 1636 and was a student of Gloucester Hall, Oxford in 1637. He was called to the bar in 1645. He succeeded his father in 1646 and purchased an estate at Motcombe, near Shaftesbury, in 1648. He bought further property in the area over the years. From 1653 to 1684 he was Recorder of Shaftesbury. He was commissioner for assessment for Dorset 1657. In 1659, Whitaker 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 Shaftesbury 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 ...

. He was commissioner for assessment for Dorset from January 1660 to 1680 and J.P. from March 1660 to 1683. In 1661, he was elected MP for Shaftesbury in the Cavalier Parliament. He was commissioner for corporations for Dorset from 1662 to 1663 and commissioner for the foreshore in 1662. In 1662, he became a freeman of Lyme Regis. He was commissioner for recusants for Dorset in 1675. In 1679, he was re-elected MP for Shaftesbury in the

First Exclusion Parliament The Habeas Corpus Parliament, also known as the First Exclusion Parliament, was a short-lived English Parliament which assembled on 6 March 1679 (or 1678, Old Style) during the reign of Charles II of England, the third parliament of the King's re ...

. Whitaker died at the age of about 72 and was buried at Motcombe. Whitaker married Mary Mapowder, daughter of Narcissus Mapowder of Holsworthy, Devon and had a son and five daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitaker, Henry 1622 births 1695 deaths Members of the Middle Temple Alumni of Gloucester Hall, Oxford English MPs 1659 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679