Sir Peyton Ventris (November 1645 – 6 April 1691) was an English

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, the first surviving son of Edward Ventris (died 1649) of the manor of Granhams (now Granhams Close),

Great Shelford Great Shelford is a village located approximately to the south of Cambridge, in the county of Cambridgeshire, in eastern England. In 1850 Great Shelford parish contained bisected by the river Cam. The population in 1841 was 803 people. By 2001 ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, although he was born in

Little Wenham Little Wenham is a small village in Suffolk, England. It is part of the civil parish of Wenham Parva – the ancient name for Little Wenham) within Babergh district. Its population is included there. Heritage The village is home to Wenham Castl ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. Ventris entered

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

, on 4 July 1660, and like his father then moved to 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 an ...

on 3 February 1664. He was called to the bar on 2 June 1671, his chambers in

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

being above Middle Temple. He was not a success as a

pleader A special pleader was a historical legal occupation. The practitioner, or "special pleader" in English law specialised in drafting "pleadings", in modern terminology statements of case. History Up to the 19th century, there were many rules, tech ...

and turned to reporting. Ventris produced two volumes of reports which were published in 1696 after his death, they mainly concerned arguments in king's bench and common pleas. Ventris married Margaret Whiting, daughter of Henry, a shipowner of

Coggeshall Coggeshall ( or ) is a small town in Essex, England, between Colchester and Braintree on the Roman road Stane Street and the River Blackwater. It has almost 300 listed buildings and a market whose charter was granted in 1256 by Henry III. ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, and of

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

. Ventris moved to Ipswich, and in 1681 he became the

town clerk A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a To ...

and one of three counsels to the corporation. When a new town charter was created in July 1684 he was not named and lost these civic offices. In 1685 Ventris became a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Suffolk in 1685, and in 1687, he inherited extensive properties from his father-in-law. He was elected as a Whig to one of Ipswich's seats in the Convention Parliament in January 1689 following the 1688 revolution. He took the oath as 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 ...

on 2 May 1689, and a few days later the king made him a

justice of common pleas Justice of the Common Pleas was a puisne judicial position within the Court of Common Pleas of England and Wales, under the Chief Justice. The Common Pleas was the primary court of common law within England and Wales, dealing with "common" pleas ...

on 4 May 1689. Ventris 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 ...

on 31 October 1689. He was living in parish of St Nicholas

in 1689. After a long illness Ventris died on 6 April 1691 and was buried in the chancel of

St Nicholas' Church, Ipswich St Nicholas' Church, Ipswich is a medieval church in Ipswich. It is currently used by the Diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich as a conference centre and is adjacent to the diocesan offices, and the bishops' offices. The church dates from 1300 and ...

, survived by his wife, his mother, five sons, and a daughter.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ventris, Peyton 1645 births 1691 deaths People from Babergh District Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Ipswich English MPs 1689–1690 Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Justices of the Common Pleas