Sir John Glanville (1542 – 27 July 1600), ''the elder'', of Kilworthy,

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13,028 ...

, in Devon, was an English

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 ...

and judge and was the first judge recorded as having reached the bench after beginning his career as an attorney.

Career

Born in

, he began as an attorney but joined

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1567 and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1574: his practice proved lucrative and he amassed a considerable fortune, building a mansion at Kilworthy near Tavistock. He became a

serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writ ...

in 1589, and was both Lent and Autumn Reader of his Inn in that same year. He sat as MP for Launceston in the Parliament of 1584–5, for

in 1586–7 and St Germans in 1593. He was appointed Judge of

Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

in 1598.

Marriage and children

He married Alice Skirret by whom he had three sons and four daughters including: * Sir John Glanville the younger, 2nd son, was also distinguished as a lawyer and was

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

in 1640. *Joan Glanville, eldest daughter, who married

Sampson Hele Sampson Hele ( – ) of Gnaton and of Halwell, Devon, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1624. Early life Hele was born into the junior line of a minor gentry family which had settled in Devon since at least ...

, MP. *Dionis/Dewnes/Dunes (i.e. ''Denise'') Glanville, who married Thomas Polwhele of Treworgan in Cornwall,.Vivian, p.411 *Tho. Glanville, who married Jane, daughter of John Cornish of Tavistock. Their son was John Glanville of Launceston, Cornwall who married Mary, daughter of Jo. Skerret of Whitechurch. Then Christian, daughter of Jo. Eastcotte of Abottsham. His widow Alice Skirret married Sir Francis Godolphin as his second wife.

Death and burial

While riding on circuit, Sir John was killed when he fell off his horse, breaking his neck, on 27 July 1600.
History of Parliament Online article. He was buried in Tavistock Church.

References

* *

Edward Foss Edward Foss (16 October 1787 – 27 July 1870) was an English lawyer and biographer. He became a solicitor, and on his retirement from practice in 1840, devoted himself to the study of legal antiquities. His ''Judges of England'' (9 vols., 1848� ...

, ''The Judges of England'', Volume 5 (London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts, 1857) *

Browne Willis Browne Willis (16 September 1682 – 5 February 1760) was an antiquary, author, numismatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1705 to 1708. Early life Willis was born at Blandford St Mary, Dorset, the eldest son of Thomas Wil ...

, ''Notitia Parliamentaria'' (London, 1750

1542 births 1600 deaths Members of the Parliament of England for Tavistock Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall Justices of the Common Pleas Knights Bachelor English MPs 1584–1585 English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1593 16th-century English judges Serjeants-at-law (England) {{16thC-England-MP-stub