Sir Nicholas Saunders (1563 – 9 February 1649) was an English landowner and

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 ...

. He was a Catholic but became a member of the Church of England and parliament. He had to sell property due to financial problems. His later life is known in some detail due to the extant diary of his daughter

Isabella Twysden Isabella Twysden ( Saunders; 1605–1657) was an English diarist. She lived at Royden Hall in East Peckham. Life She was born in 1605 and her mother was Elizabeth Blount. Her father was Sir Nicholas Saunders (died 1649), Nicholas Saunders of N ...

Life

He was the eldest son of Nicholas Saunders of

Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a suburban area with a village centre in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, approximately south of central London and northeast of Epsom. In the 2011 Census, the settlement had a population of 34,872, a majority of wh ...

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. ...

and his first wife, Isabel Carew, daughter of Sir Nicholas Carew (executed for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

in 1539) and

Elizabeth Bryan Elizabeth Blomfield Bryan AM is an Australian executive director. She was the first woman to run a large financial institution in Australia. Biography Bryan grew up on her family's cattle and sheep properties near Coonabarabran in northern New ...

, and was educated at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

and the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

(1583). He spent part of his childhood in the household of

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...

, who remained his friend. He succeeded his father in 1587 and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1603. In his early adult life, he was, like his father and his wife, an ardent

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and was presented as a

recusant Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

in 1585/86, although, possibly due to Burghley's friendship, he did not suffer any penalty. After his father's death, he conformed to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, and even sat on a commission for the suppression of

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in 1591/92. His wife remained an open Catholic, which caused the sincerity of his own Protestantism to be questioned from time to time. He took part in the

Capture of Cadiz Capture may refer to: *Asteroid capture, a phenomenon in which an asteroid enters a stable orbit around another body *Capture, a software for lighting design, documentation and visualisation *"Capture" a song by Simon Townshend *Capture (band), an ...

in 1596, but suffered the embarrassment of being arrested for debt on the way. Saunders was a

for

Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south west Surrey, England, around south west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill, they comprise the civil parish of Haslemere i ...

in 1593, Gatton in 1604 and

Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. Th ...

in 1626. In the

Blessed Parliament The 1st Parliament of King James I was summoned by King James I on 31 January 1604 and assembled on 19 March. It was known as the Blessed Parliament and took place in five sessions, interrupted by Holy Days and the Gunpowder Plot. The spea ...

of 1604-11 he was an active and diligent committee man. He was in financial difficulties for much of his adult life: he sold three manors between 1591 and 1601, and in 1638 sold Ewell itself. He blamed the "ill-dealing of others" for his troubles, but his involvement in impractical money-making schemes, such as one to supply

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

, was at least partly to blame. He is not known to have taken any part 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 ...

. He died

intestate Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having in force a valid will or other binding declaration. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estat ...

, and reputedly penniless, at

Nonesuch Palace Nonsuch Palace was a Tudor royal palace, built by Henry VIII in Surrey, England; it stood from 1538 to 1682–83. Its site lies in what is now Nonsuch Park on the boundaries of the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey and the London Boro ...

, where he had lived since selling nearby Ewell, on 9 February 1649, and was buried by torchlight in the same grave as his wife. He married Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of Richard Blount of London and Williton,

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_ ...

, (her mother Margaret Blount was his stepmother), with whom he had a son, Henry and three daughters, including

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...

, who married

Sir Roger Twysden, 2nd Baronet Sir Roger Twysden, 2nd Baronet (21 August 1597 – 27 June 1672), of Roydon Hall near East Peckham in Kent, was an English historian and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1625 and 1640. Life Twysden was the son ...

. Elizabeth brought him a comfortable fortune, which he seems to have run through. Isabella "a lady of rare patience and prudence" kept a diary of the period 1645–51 in which she describes her father's last days.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Nicholas 1563 births 1649 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple English MPs 1593 English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1626