John Collins (11 July 1624 – 1711) was an English academic 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. ...

in two periods between 1660 and 1689. Collins was the son of the theologian Samuel Collins. He was a

King's Scholar A King's Scholar is a foundation scholar (elected on the basis of good academic performance and usually qualifying for reduced fees) of one of certain public schools. These include Eton College; The King's School, Canterbury; The King's School ...

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and was admitted at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

on 30 January 1639. He was also admitted at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

on 14 May 1639. In 1643 he was awarded BA and became a Fellow of his college, remaining until 1653. He was awarded MA in 1646. After 1653 he travelled. In 1660, Collins 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

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia * Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Ando ...

in the Convention Parliament. He was re-elected MP for Andover 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 1679. He was re-elected MP for Andover in March 1681 and sat until 1689.History of Parliament Online - Collins, John
/ref> He was knighted at Windsor Castle on 14 June 1681.Knights of England
/ref> In 1683, he was awarded LLD. Collins was of Chute Lodge, Wiltshire and died at the age of 86.

References

1624 births 1711 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Members of Gray's Inn People from Andover, Hampshire Place of birth missing English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1685–1687 {{17thC-England-MP-stub