Herbert Morley (2 April 1616 – 29 September 1667) 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. T ...

variously between 1640 and 1667. He fought for the

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

army 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 r ...

. Later he was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London. Morley was the son of

Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, of ...

Glynde Place Glynde Place is an Elizabethan Manor House at Glynde in East Sussex, England. Situated in the South Downs National Park, it is the family home of the Viscounts Hampden, whose forebears built the house in 1569. It is a Grade I listed building. ...

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 Englis ...

and his wife Susanna Hodgson, daughter and heiress of Thomas Hodgson, of Framfield.National Archives - The Glynde Place Archives
/ref> He was at school at Lewes and was admitted at

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican m ...

on 9 May 1632. He was admitted at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

in November 1634. He served as a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the s ...

for Sussex from 1641 to 1660. Morley 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 o ...

for

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of t ...

just before the dissolution of 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. Af ...

. In November 1640, he was re- elected MP for Lewes in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septe ...

.History of Parliament Online - Morley, Herbert
/ref> In the civil war he became a colonel in the Parliamentary Army and was chief agent for raising troops, and sequestrating estates, in Sussex. Morley was the leader of the Parliamentarian army at the Battle of Muster Green, fought on the first week of December 1642 on Muster Green in

Haywards Heath Haywards Heath is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, Cra ...

in Sussex, and won the battle. He was nominated one of the King's judges, but refused to act. He was a member of the Council of State between 1650 and 1653. In 1654 he was returned as MP for

and for Rye in the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the Ho ...

. In 1656 he was elected as MP for Sussex in the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in ...

. In 1659 he was elected MP for Sussex and for Lewes 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 pow ...

. He was member of the Council of State and an Admiralty Commissioner in 1659 In 1660, Morley was a member of the Council of State and was elected MP for Rye in the Convention Parliament. He refused to negotiate the King's return and purchased a pardon in 1660. He was re-elected MP for Rye 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 ...

and sat until his death in 1667. Morley died at the age of 51.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morley, Herbert Lieutenants of the Tower of London 1616 births 1667 deaths English MPs 1661–1679 Roundheads High Sheriffs of Surrey High Sheriffs of Sussex Sussex Militia officers English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660