British (English) School - Sir Humphrey May (1573–1630) - 851929 - National Trust

Sir Humphrey May (1573 – 9 June 1630) was an English courtier 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 1605 and 1629.

Career

May was the fourth son of Richard May, Merchant Taylor of London. He matriculated from

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

on 25 October 1588, graduated B.A. on 3 March 1592, and became student of the Middle Temple in 1592. In February 1604, he was groom of the King's privy chamber. May 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 Beeralston at a by-election in 1605. In 1613 he was sent to Calais to prevent 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 ...

and Henry Howard fighting a duel. In 1614 he was elected MP for

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. He was elected MP for Lancaster in 1621. In 1624, he was elected MP for Lancaster and also for

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and chose to sit for Leicester. In 1625 he was elected MP for Lancaster and Leicester again, but this time chose to sit for Lancaster. He was elected MP for Leicester again in 1626 and 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.Browne Willis ''Notitia parliamentaria, or, An history of the counties, cities, and boroughs in England and Wales: ... The whole extracted from mss. and printed evidences'' 1750 pp156-239
/ref> He held the office of Vice-Chamberlain of the Household and

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to King Charles I. He was also appointed Chancellor to the Duchy of Lancaster May died at his house at St Martin-in-the-Fields in 1630, at the age of about 57, and was buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

Marriage and issue

May married twice. He married firstly Jane Uvedale, sister of Sir William Uvedale, of Wickham, Hampshire, by whom he had two daughters and two sons – James of Coldrey and Sir Algernon of Greenwich – before Jane died giving birth to another son, Richard, in May 1615. He married secondly, on 3 February 1616, at Bury St. Edmunds, Judith Pooley, daughter of Sir William Pooley, of Boxted, Suffolk, by whom he had several daughters and three sons, Charles (born 1619), Richard (1621–1644) and

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

(1628–1698). In 1660, after the English Civil War, Judith petitioned King Charles II for a share of her late husband's proceeds from the Court of Star Chamber.

References

*''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', May, Sir Humphrey (1573–1630), statesman, by Gordon Goodwin. Published 1894. {{DEFAULTSORT:May, Humphrey 1573 births 1630 deaths Members of the Parliament of England for Bere Alston English knights English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1614 English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 Knights Bachelor Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster