Sir Robert Holborne (died 1647) was an English lawyer and politician, of

Furnival's Inn Furnival's Inn was an Inn of Chancery which formerly stood on the site of the present Holborn Bars building (the former Prudential Assurance Company building) in Holborn, London, England. History Furnival's Inn was founded about 1383 when Wil ...

and

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

(where he was bencher and reader in English law). He acted, along with Oliver St. John, as co-counsel for

John Hampden John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English landowner and politician whose opposition to arbitrary taxes imposed by Charles I made him a national figure. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and cousin to Oliver Cromwell, he was one of th ...

in the

ship money Ship money was a tax of medieval origin levied intermittently in the Kingdom of England until the middle of the 17th century. Assessed typically on the inhabitants of coastal areas of England, it was one of several taxes that English monarchs co ...

case. He 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. ...

between 1640 and 1642 and supported 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 ...

cause 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 was attorney-general to the Prince of Wales, being knighted in 1643. He also published legal tracts.

Biography

Holborne was the son of Nicholas Holbone of Chichester. His mother was, perhaps, Anne, sister of John Lane. Holborne was married (1630-1633) to the Lady Anne Dudley, granddaughter of the famous

Earl of Leicester Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837. Early creations ...

. Lady Anne was one of the abandoned daughters and co-heirs of Sir Robert Dudley, formally of Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire. It has been suggested this relationship may have influenced his initial anti-Court reputation. He was trained for the law, as the custom then was, at

, before proceeding to

, where he entered 9 November 1615, and subsequently became a

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...

and reader in English law there. He was early distinguished in practice at the king's bench, and his opinion was taken by

in regard to ship-money. In the great case he was one of Hampden's counsel, and supplied what

Oliver St John Sir Oliver St John (; c. 1598 – 31 December 1673) was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640-53. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War. Early life St John was the son of Oliver St ...

had omitted in an elaborate argument which lasted for three days, 2–5 December 1637. In April 1640 Holborne 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

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

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 ...

. In November 1640, he was elected MP for St. Michael, Cornwall, in 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 ...

. While in the house he spoke strongly in favour of the power of convocation to bind the laity, in so far as the canons did not conflict with the law of the land.Archbold, DNB, 27.111 Holborne separated himself still further from his party by the fight he made against Strafford's attainder. When King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

went to Oxford, Holborne joined him there, and on 7 February 1642 was created D.C.L. while he was disabled from sitting in the parliament at Westminster in 1642. The King made him attorney-general to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

, and on 19 January 1643 he was knighted. His estate was sequestrated by Parliament. He died in 1647, and was buried in

Lincoln's Inn Chapel The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincol ...

on 16 February of that year.Archbold, DNB, 27.111

Bibliography

Holborne wrote: # ''The Reading in Lincolnes Inne, Feb. 28 1041, vpon the Statute . . . of Treasons,'' Oxford, 1642, 4to: reiessued with Bacon's 'Cases' in 1681. # ''The Freeholders Grand Inquest touching our souveraigne Lord the King and his Parliament,'' London, 1647, 4to; a pamphlet upon constitutional questions. He also edited William Tothill's ''Transactions of the High Court of Chancery,'' London, 1649, 8vo. The authorship of ''The Freeholders'' is usually attributed to

Robert Filmer Sir Robert Filmer (c. 1588 – 26 May 1653) was an English political theorist who defended the divine right of kings. His best known work, ''Patriarcha'', published posthumously in 1680, was the target of numerous Whig attempts at rebuttal, ...

Peter Laslett Thomas Peter Ruffell Laslett (18 December 1915 – 8 November 2001) was an English historian. Biography Laslett was the son of a Baptist minister and was born in Bedford on 18 December 1915. Although he spent much of his childhood in Oxford, ...

, but contemporary historian Anthony Wood attributed it to Robert Holborne.

Notes

References

*Archbold, William Arthur Jobson, ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', volume 27 p. 111 cites: **Gardiner's ''History of England''; **Return of Members of Parliament; **Lincoln's Inn ''Register''; **''

Evelyn's Diary The ''Diary'' of John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February 1706), a gentlemanly Royalist and ''virtuoso'' of the seventeenth century, was first published in 1818 (2nd edition, 1819) under the title ''Memoirs Illustrative of the Life and Writing ...

'', iv. 101; **Cal. ''State Papers''; **''State Trials'', ed. Cobbett, iii. 963 &c.; **Whitelocke's ''Memorials'' ;Attribution * *

William Chadwell William Chadwell (born 1614) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons between 1640 and 1644. He supported the Cavaliers, Royalist cause in the English Civil War. Chadwell was the son of W ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holborne, Robert 1647 deaths English lawyers Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall Year of birth missing Members of Lincoln's Inn 17th-century English lawyers English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 Attorneys-General of the Duchy of Cornwall Cavaliers