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Sir John Backhouse (KOB) (1584 – 9 October 1649) was an English landowner 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. T ...
from 1625 to 1629. He supported the
Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...
cause 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 re ...
. Backhouse was the son of
Samuel Backhouse Samuel Backhouse (sometimes Bacchus or Bakehouse; 18 Nov. 1554 – 24 June 1626) was an English merchant who later became a country gentleman based in the county of Berkshire. He was a member of Parliament (MP) twice early in James I's reign, ...
of
Swallowfield Park Swallowfield Park is a Grade II* listed stately home and estate in the English county of Berkshire. The house is near the village of Swallowfield, some 4 miles south of the town of Reading. The House Swallowfield Park was the home of the ...
in Berkshire and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Borlase of
Little Marlow Little Marlow is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. History The Church of England parish church of Saint John the Baptist lies at the heart of the village, not far from the river and next to the Manor House. The origina ...
in Buckinghamshire. 'Parishes: Swallowfield', A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 3 (1923), pp. 267-274. Date accessed: 9 July 2011
/ref> In the early 17th century, he helped found the
New River Company The New River Company, formally The Governor and Company of the New River brought from Chadwell and Amwell to London, was a privately-owned water supply company in London, England, originally formed around 1609 and incorporated in 1619 by roy ...
to bring a new water supply to the City of London. In 1625, 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 o ...
for
Great Marlow Great Marlow is a civil parish within Wycombe district in the English county of Buckinghamshire, lying north of the town of Marlow and south of High Wycombe. The parish includes the hamlets of Bovingdon Green, Burroughs Grove, Chisbridge Cro ...
and was re-elected MP for Great Marlow in 1626. He was appointed Knight of the Order of the Bath at the coronation of King Charles I in 1626, the year in which he inherited Swallowfield Park. In 1628 he was re-elected MP for Great Marlow and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. Backhouse supported the King in the Civil War and as a result he was imprisoned and his estates were sequestrated. He died on 9 October 1649 and a monument was erected to his memory by his widow in
Swallowfield Swallowfield is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, about south of Reading, and north of the county boundary with Hampshire. Geography The civil parish of Swallowfield also includes the nearby villages of Riseley and Farley H ...
Church. Backhouse married Flower (Flora), daughter of Thomas Henshawe and sister of Benjamin Henshawe of the
City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
on 11 July 1615. They had no children.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Backhouse, John 1584 births 1649 deaths English MPs 1625 17th-century English landowners People from Swallowfield Knights of the Bath Cavaliers London water infrastructure Thames Water English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629