John Rolle (1598–1648) was a

Turkey Merchant The Levant Company was an English chartered company formed in 1592. Elizabeth I of England approved its initial charter on 11 September 1592 when the Venice Company (1583) and the Turkey Company (1581) merged, because their charters had expired, ...

and also served as MP for the Rolle family's controlled borough of

Callington Callington ( kw, Kelliwik) is a civil parish and town in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom about north of Saltash and south of Launceston. Callington parish had a population of 4,783 in 2001, according to the 2001 census. This had inc ...

, Cornwall, in 1626 and 1628 and for Truro, Cornwall, in 1640 for the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

and in November 1640 for 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 ...

. He supported the Parliamentarian side 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 ...

Origins

John Rolle was baptised 13 April 1598 at

Petrockstowe Petrockstowe (or Petrockstow) is a small village and civil parish in the district of Torridge in Northern Devon, England. Its population in 2001 was 379, hardly different from the figure of 385 recorded in 1901. The southern boundary of the par ...

, Devon, the 4th son of Robert Rolle (d. 1633) of Heanton Satchville in the parish of Petrockstowe,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, by his wife Joan Hele, daughter of Thomas Hele of Fleet, Devon. John was a great-grandson, in a junior line, of

George Rolle George Rolle (c. 1486 – 20 November 1552) of Stevenstone in the parish of St Giles in the Wood near Great Torrington in Devon, was the founder of the wealthy, influential and widespread Rolle family of Devon, which according to the Return of ...

(c.1486-1552) of Stevenstone, Devon, founder of the influential and wealthy Rolle family of Devon, Keeper of the Records of the Court of Common Pleas and MP for

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

in 1542 and 1545. John's elder brothers included: *Sir Samuel I Rolle (c.1588-1647), eldest brother, of Heanton Satchville,

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

, Cornwall in 1640 and for

1641-1647 and 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 ...

side in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. *Sir

Henry Rolle Sir Henry Rolle (1589–1656), of Shapwick, Somerset, Shapwick in Somerset, was Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Chief Justice of the King's Bench and served as Member of parliament, MP for Callington (UK Parliament constituency), Call ...

(1589–1656), of Shapwick in Somerset, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench and MP for

, Cornwall, (1614-1623-4) and for Truro, Cornwall (1625- 1629)

Career

John Rolle was a

. He was elected

(MP) for

in the parliaments of 1626 and 1628. In 1628 he refused to pay tonnage and poundage when King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

continued to levy the charge in defiance of Parliament. Silks and other goods to the value of £1,517 were seized from him by the customs authorities, and he was forced into a lengthy lawsuit in order to recover them. Writs issued by the courts on his behalf were blocked by order of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

and the Exchequer, and he was summoned by the king before the

Court of Star Chamber The Star Chamber (Latin: ''Camera stellata'') was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (c. 1641), and was composed of Privy Counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the judic ...

, which the House of Commons treated as a breach of its

parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties. ...

, as it was then debating the legitimacy of seizure of merchants' goods by the crown. Rolle's property was not returned and as a result he ceased his trading activities. In 1630 following the

dissolution of Parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly is the mandatory simultaneous resignation of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy, the new assemb ...

, Rolle was again summoned before the Star Chamber and was questioned about speeches made by him in the Commons. In April 1640 Rolle was elected MP for Truro in the

and was re-elected in November 1640 for the

. He adhered to 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 on the outbreak of

. In 1641 Parliament instructed the committee of trade to investigate his case and after some delay in 1644 it made its report, as a result of which Rolle was voted full compensation for the sum seized from him and for losses he had suffered, covering his legal expenses and his losses from his refusal to trade after 1628. The expense was met by a fine on the executors of the

Farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...

of Customs and on

Sir William Acton, 1st Baronet Sir William Acton, 1st Baronet (1570 – 22 January 1651) was an English merchant and Royalist who was Lord Mayor of London in 1640. Acton was the son of Richard Acton, a London merchant, and Margaret Daniel. He was apprenticed by the Merchant T ...

, the Sheriff of London who had been in office in 1628.

Death

Rolle died unmarried and was buried at Petrockstowe on 18 November 1648.Vivian, p.654

References

Sources

* *D. Brunton & D. H. Pennington, ''Members of the Long Parliament'' (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954) *Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p. 654, pedigree of Rolle {{DEFAULTSORT:Rolle, John 1598 births 1648 deaths English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 John People from Torridge District Members of the Parliament of England for Callington Members of the Parliament of England for Truro