Ralph Sneyd (1564 – 7 April 1643) was an English landowner and 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. ...

from 1640 to 1642. He was a colonel in 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 ...

army 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 ...

and was killed in action on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. Sneyd was the son of Ralph Sneyd of

Keele Hall Keele Hall is a 19th-century mansion house at Keele, Staffordshire, England, now standing on the campus of Keele University and serving as the university conference centre. It is a Grade II* listed building. History Early history The manor of K ...

and Bradwell and his first wife, Mary Chetwynd, daughter of Thomas Chetwynd, of Ingestrie. Sneyd inherited the estates of

Keele Keele is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is approximately three miles (5 km) west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and is close to the village of Silverdale. Keele lies on the A53 roa ...

and Bradwell. In April 1640, Sneyd 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

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

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 Stafford in November 1640 for the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

and sat until he was disabled in 1642. Sneyd was a colonel in the King's army. Keele Hall was badly damaged in the Civil War and Sneyd suffered losses of up to £20,000 because of his loyalty to the king. He was killed by the last shot fired in defence of the Countess of Derby on the Isle of Man.John Hayter, John Leighton ''The court album: twelve portraits of the female aristocracy (1852)''
/ref> Sneyd married Felicia Archbold, daughter of Nicholas Archbold and Suzanna Borrough. His son, Ralph Sneyd married Jane Downes, daughter of

Roger Downes Roger Downes (died 1638) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons in 1601 and from 1621 to 1622. Downes was the son Roger Downes of Shrigley, Cheshire. He was a student of Staple Inn and t ...

Wardley Hall Wardley may refer to: Organisations *Wardley (company), a fish food manufacturer *Wardley, a former merchant banking division of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (), commonl ...

, Worsley.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sneyd, Ralph 1650 deaths English landowners Cavaliers Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Stafford People killed in the English Civil War Deaths by firearm in the Isle of Man English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 1564 births