James Baker (died October 1689) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1659 and 1660. Baker was an attorney and by 1636 was living at Shaftesbury. In 1637 he became steward of the manorial court of Abbotsbury. He was constable and churchwarden of Shaftesbury St Peter in 1642. During the Civil War he became prominent as a sequestrator of Royalist estates as solicitor and sequestrator for Dorset from 1646 to 1649. He was mayor of Shaftesbury from 1647 to 1648. In 1648 he was commissioner for assessment for Dorset and in 1650 he was commissioner for administering the engagement. He was also captain of the militia cavalry in 1650. He was commissioner for assessment for Dorset again in 1652 and commissioner for security in 1655. From 1656 to 1657 he was mayor of Shaftesbury again. History of Parliament Online - James Baker
/ref> In 1659, Baker 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 lieutenant of militia cavalry in 1659 and was commissioner for assessment for Dorset in January 1660. In April 1660 he was re-elected MP for Shaftesbury in the Convention Parliament and signed the loyal address from Dorset on the Restoration. Baker died and was buried at St. Peter's Shaftesbury on 21 October 1689. Baker was married by 1636 and had three sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, James Year of birth missing 1689 deaths English lawyers Mayors of Shaftesbury 17th-century English lawyers Burials in Dorset English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 Roundheads