John Blagrave (1630 – March 1704) 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 1660 and 1685. Blagrave was the son of Anthony Blagrave of

Bulmershe Court Bulmershe Court was a campus of the University of Reading, situated in what is now the Reading suburb of Woodley, in the English county of Berkshire. Historically, Bulmershe Court has been the name of a manor and of two quite distinct country ...

at Earley in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

and his wife Dorothy, daughter of

Thomas Dolman Sir Thomas Dolman (13 January 1622 – 18 July 1697) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1661 to 1679. Dolman was the son of Humphrey Dolman of Shaw House, Berkshire and his wife Anne Quarles, daughter of ...

of Shaw House in the same county. The Blagraves were a branch of that family of Calcot Park, Berkshire. He was baptised in the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Sonning Sonning is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, on the River Thames, east of Reading. The village was described by Jerome K. Jerome in his book ''Three Men in a Boat'' as "the most fairy-like little nook on the whole river". Geo ...

on 12 August 1630. He was educated at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pr ...

being awarded BA in 1651 and MA in 1653. He was a Fellow of St John's and was later at

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 an ...

in 1655.History of Parliament Online - Blagrave, John
/ref> In 1660, Blagrave was returned unopposed as

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

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in the Convention Parliament, but did not stand in 1661. He was re-elected MP for Reading in 1679 and sat until 1685. He was a major in the Royal Berkshire Militia and was arrested at the time of Monmouth's invasion in 1685. Blagrave married Hester, daughter of merchant William Gore, of

Barrow Gurney Barrow Gurney is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated in the unitary authority of North Somerset on the B3130, midway between the A38 and A370 near the Long Ashton bypass and Bristol Airport, south west of Bristol city ce ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and

Morden Morden is a district and town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Merton, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton to the south and Worcester Pa ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. They had seven children, including Anthony Blagrave who was also MP for Reading.Burke's Landed Gentry, 17th edition, edited by L. G. Pine, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1952, pages 200-201 Blagrave died at the age of 73 and was buried in the family vault in Sonning Church on 9 March 1704.

References

1630 births 1704 deaths People from Reading, Berkshire People from Earley Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Reading Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple English MPs 1660 English MPs 1679 Military personnel from Berkshire English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 {{17thC-England-MP-stub