John Stephens (1603 – 4 August 1679) was an English 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 ...

at various times between 1645 and 1660. Stephens was the second son of Thomas Stephens of

Little Sodbury Little Sodbury is an English village in South Gloucestershire, located between Chipping Sodbury, to the West, Old Sodbury to the South, Badminton, and the A46 road to the East and Horton and Hawkesbury Upton, to the north. The "manor of Sodbur ...

, Gloucestershire and was educated at Lincoln College, Oxford. In 1620 he entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

, where he was called to the bar in 1628, and practised law in Elm Court.W R Williams ''Parliamentary History of the County of Gloucester''
/ref> He was the brother of Edward Stephens. Stephens inherited from his father Lypiatt House in the neighbourhood of Bisley. The house was garrisoned by Parliamentary troops during the Civil War but partially set on fire during a Royalist attack under Sir Jacob Astley, who was later forced to make good the damage from his own assets. Stephens 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

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Ri ...

in 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 ...

in 1645.History of Parliament Online - Stephens, John
/ref> In 1659 he was elected MP for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

in 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 po ...

. In April 1660, he was elected MP for

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in the Convention Parliament. Stephens married four times: Elizabeth Ram of Essex, Grace, the daughter of John Brown of Frampton, Dorset, Anne, the daughter of John and sister and co-heir of Thomas Moulson of Hargrave, Cheshire, and Hester, daughter and co-heir of Mr Barnes of Alborough Hatch in Barking, Essex. He was succeeded by his eldest son Thomas, who was MP for Gloucestershire in 1695.

References

1622 births 1679 deaths People from South Gloucestershire District Politicians from Gloucestershire English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1648–1653 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford {{17thC-England-MP-stub