James Lewis (born 1601) was a Welsh 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 1624 and 1656. 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 governme ...

and then 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

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 ...

. Lewis was the son of Sir John Lewis of Abaernant-bychen and his wife Bridget Pryse, daughter of Sir Richard Pryse. He matriculated at

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...

on 14 March 1617, aged 15.W R Williams ''The Parliamentary History of the Principality of Wales''
/ref> In 1624, Lewis 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

Cardiganshire Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

in 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 ...

. He was re-elected MP for Cardiganshire in 1625, 1626 and 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. Lewis was re-elected MP for Cardiganshire in April 1640 for the

. He was a Royalist at the beginning of the Civil War, but in January 1645 was appointed one of the sequestration committee for Cardigan, Pembroke and Carmarthen Counties. He was Colonel in a regiment of the parliamentary army and captured Newcastle Emlyn for parliament in December 1645. His regiment was ordered to be disbanded in March 1648 though it was retained a little longer. Information was laid against him on 12 February 1649 that he had fought originally for the king, had protected Royalists when on the sequestration committee and his regiment had cost the state £50,000. An order was made for his discharge on 15 March 1649 under the general act of pardon for South Wales. He was re-elected MP for Cardiganshire in 1656 for the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in t ...

. After the Restoration he was nominated for the honour of

Knight of the Royal Oak The Knights of the Royal Oak was an intended order of chivalry in England. It was proposed in 1660 at the time of the restoration of Charles II of England to be a reward for those Englishmen who had faithfully and actively supported Charles dur ...

. He was

High Sheriff of Cardiganshire The office of High Sheriff of Cardiganshire was established in 1541, since when a high sheriff was appointed annually until 1974 when the office was transformed into that of High Sheriff of Dyfed as part of the creation of Dyfed from the amalgamat ...

in 1664. He was described as "a person of inoffensive, facile constitution, forced from a Royalist to act as a colonel for King and Parliament: seldom out of publique offices, though averse to undertake any; loved more for doing no wrong, than for doing of any good".

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, James 1601 births Year of death missing Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales High Sheriffs of Cardiganshire 17th-century Welsh politicians Cavaliers Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Roundheads English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1656–1658