Sir Robert Bedingfield (1637–1711) of Ludgate Street, London, was a British merchant 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. ...

in 1701. He was

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

in 1706. Bedingfield was born before 2 June 1637, the fifth son of John Bedingfield of Lincoln’s Inn and Halesworth, Suffolk and his wife Joyce Morgan, daughter of Edmund Morgan of Lambeth, Surrey. He was a woollen-draper and a member of the Merchant Taylors’ Company. He married, by licence dated 22 December 1662, Elizabeth Harvey daughter of Martin Harvey of Weston Favell, Northamptonshire. She died without issue in 1688. He married as his second wife Anne Reynardson, widow of Nicholas Reynardson of London and daughter of William Strode of Newhouse, Warwickshire on 10 October 1689. Bedingfield was a common councilman for Castle Baynard Ward London from 1682 to 1683 and from 1688 to 1697. He became Alderman of Dowgate on 26 January 1697 and a Master of the Merchant Taylors also in 1697. He was knighted on 18 November 1697. He was a strong Tory and had at one time been a friend of Judge Jeffreys. At the first general election of 1701, he was brought in 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

Hedon Hedon is a town and civil parish in Holderness in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately east of Hull city centre. It lies to the north of the A1033 road at the crossroads of the B1240 and B1362 roads. It is ...

by Henry Guy. He was generally inactive in Parliament, but in May 1701 he petitioned the House for relief from the effects of the Act relating to forfeited estates in Ireland. His single vote in the London common council forestalled a petition in support of the Kentish Petitioners. He was blacklisted because he had opposed preparations for war, and did not stand at the second general election of 1701. He became

Sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery company, livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have ...

for the year 1702 to 1703, and became Lord Mayor in 1706. He was named as colonel of the City militia (Blue regiment) among six other Tories in October 1710 and he supported the Tory candidates in the London parliamentary election a month later. Bedingfield died, suddenly, without issue on 2 May 1711. He was brother of Henry Bedingfield and he left as his principal heir his nephew Thomas Bedingfield of St. John’s, Oxfordshire. Another nephew received by his will "the lease of my dwelling house and shop and the whole benefit and advantage of the same".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedington, Robert 1637 births 1711 deaths English MPs 1701 18th-century lord mayors of London Members of the Parliament of England for Hedon