Sir John Hippisley was an English privateer 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. ...

at various times between 1621 and 1653. He supported 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 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 ...

Geograph 3441698 Marston House, Marston Bigot

Hippisley was the son of William Hippisley (died 1630).William Betham The New baronetage of England, Volume 2
/ref> He was knighted at Sheriff Hutton Park on 14 April 1617. In 1621, 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

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

. He was re-elected MP for Petersfield in 1624.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 pp176-239
/ref> About this time, he purchased from Sir John Leman the manor of Lesnes and the site of

Lesnes Abbey Lesnes Abbey is a former abbey, now ruined, in Abbey Wood, in the London Borough of Bexley, southeast London, England. It is a scheduled monument, and the abbey's ruins are listed at Grade II by Historic England. The adjacent Lesnes Abbey W ...

in Bexley which he later sold to Sir Thomas Gainsford, of Crowhurst, Surrey. In 1624 he was appointed Lieutenant of

Dover Castle Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England and is Grade I listed. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. Some sources say it is the ...

, a post he held until 1629. He was elected MP for

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

in 1625 and 1626, During his time at Dover he was involved in the wars with France and Spain and took part in privateering activities.John Appleby ''A Pathway out of Debt: The Privateering Activities of Sir John Hippisley during the Early Stuart Wars with France and Spain''

American Neptune The ''American Neptune: A Quarterly Journal of Maritime History and Arts'' was an academic journal covering American maritime history from its establishment in 1941 until it ceased publication in 2002. History Established by Samuel Eliot Moriso ...

49 pp 251-261 In 1628 he was re-elected MP for Dover and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. In 1641 Hippisley was elected to the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

as one of the members elected to the newly enfranchised constituency of

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...

. About this time he sold the manor of

Marston Bigot Marston Bigot is a small village in the civil parish of Trudoxhill, near Nunney and south of Frome in Somerset, England. History Marston Bigot was listed as "Mersitone-tora" in the Domesday Book, which gave the name of the then Saxon landowner ...

Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (13 October 1566 – 15 September 1643), also known as the Great Earl of Cork, was an English politician who served as Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland. Lord Cork was an important figure in the continuing ...

. In the Civil War, Hippisley sided with parliament and was commissioner to treat with the king. Hippisley married Catherine Norton daughter of Sir Roger Norton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hippisley, John Year of birth missing Year of death missing English privateers Roundheads English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1648–1653 Members of the Parliament of England for Dover