James Philipps (1594–2 May 1674) was a Welsh 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 1653 and 1662. He was a supporter of the

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

cause during 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 ...

Life

Philipps was the eldest son of George Philipps of Tregibby who was a member of a leading

Cardiganshire Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

family and had been High Sheriff in 1606. He

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from

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...

in 1610. During the Civil War, he was acting as a Commissioner of Sequestration in west Wales. He was also a colonel in the Parliamentary army and was appointed a member of the High Court of Justice. He became

High Sheriff of Cardiganshire The office of High Sheriff of Cardiganshire was established in 1541, since when a high sheriff was appointed annually until 1974 when the office was transformed into that of High Sheriff of Dyfed as part of the creation of Dyfed from the amalgamat ...

in 1649. W R Williams ''The Parliamentary History of the Principality of Wales''
/ref> In 1653, Philipps was nominated one of the representatives for Wales in the

Barebones Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the ins ...

. He 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

in 1654 for 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 Hou ...

. In 1656 he was elected MP for Cardiganshire and

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

and chose to sit for Pembrokeshire 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 t ...

. He was re-elected MP for Cardiganshire in 1659 for 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 ...

. In April 1660 Philipps was elected MP for Cardigan in the Convention Parliament. He was re-elected MP for Cardigan 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 ...

but was unseated on petition on 30 April 1662.

Family

Philips married firstly Frances Phillips daughter of Sir Richard Phillips Bt. of Picton, Pembrokeshire. He married secondly in 1647 Katherine Fowler daughter of John Fowler merchant of London. Katherine, praised as one of the best poets of her generation, died in June 1664 and Philipps married thirdly Anne Rudd daughter of Sir Richard Rudd Bt. of Aberglasney, Carmarthenshire.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Philipps, James 1594 births 1675 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Roundheads Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales High Sheriffs of Cardiganshire 17th-century Welsh politicians English MPs 1653 (Barebones) English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679