Robert Bennet (1605–1683) 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 ...

between 1653 and 1654. He fought in the

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

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 ...

Biography

Bennet was the eldest son of Richard Bennet, of Hexworthy in the parish of

Lawhitton Lawhitton ( kw, Nansgwydhenn) is a village in the civil parish of Lawhitton Rural, in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated two miles (3 km) southwest of Launceston and half-a-mile west of Cornwall's border with Dev ...

in Cornwall. He matriculated at

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

on 13 December 1622, aged 17 and was awarded BA on 25 October 1624. He was a student of 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 ...

in 1622. Bennet was a Parliamentary colonel, and governor of

St. Michael's Mount St Michael's Mount ( kw, Karrek Loos yn Koos, meaning " hoar rock in woodland") is a tidal island in Mount's Bay, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The island is a civil parish and is linked to the town of Marazion by a causeway of granite s ...

and St. Mawes Castle in the Civil War. 'Alumni Oxonienses, 1500-1714: Bennell-Bloye', Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714: Abannan-Kyte (1891), pp. 106–141. Date accessed: 7 August 2011
/ref> In 1653, Bennet was nominated 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 o ...

for

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

in the

Barebones Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the ins ...

. He was elected MP for Launceston in 1654 for the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the Ho ...

.Alumni Oxonienses states that he was MP for West Looe in the Rump Parliament and Restored Rump, but this is not corroborated by parliamentary references Bennet died at the age of 79 and was buried at Lawhitton on 7 July 1683.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennet, Robert 1605 births 1683 deaths Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall Members of the Middle Temple Burials in Cornwall Roundheads English MPs 1653 (Barebones) English MPs 1654–1655