Sir Robert Pye (1585–1662) was an English courtier, administrator and politician who sat in the
House of Commons between 1621 and 1629. He supported the
Royalist cause in the
English Civil War.
Biography
Pye was the son of Roger Pye of The Mynde at
Much Dewchurch in
Herefordshire. He became
Auditor of the Receipt of the Exchequer The Auditor of the Receipt of the Exchequer was an office in the English Exchequer.
The office originated in early times as the clerk of the Lord High Treasurer at the Receipt of the Exchequer. He was responsible for filing and entering the Teller' ...
under King James I in 1620. In 1621 he was elected
Member of Parliament for
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
and was re-elected for Bath in 1624. In 1625 he was elected MP for
Ludgershall and in 1626 he was elected MP for
Westminster. He was elected MP for
Grampound in 1628.
He purchased the manor and estate of
Faringdon, then in Berkshire from the Unton family.
Pye was a supporter of the King and on this account was deprived of his office in 1642. During the Civil War, he garrisoned his mansion at Faringdon for the Royalists, and it was stoutly besieged, by his own son,
Robert who espoused the
Parliamentary cause.
Following the Restoration, Pye was restored to his post as Auditor of the Receipt of the Exchequer and held it until his death in 1662 at the age of 77.
Family
Pye married Mary, daughter of John Croker of
Batsford
Batsford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. The village is about 1½ miles north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh. There is a falconry centre close to the village and Batsford Arboretum is nearby, ...
in
Gloucestershire they had several children:
*
Robert (ca. 1620–1701), his heir, supported Parliament in the Civil War
*
John (1626–1697), who lived at Hone, in Derbyshire, and became a baronet with the creation of the
Baronetcy Pye of Leckhampstead on 27 April 1641.
*
Mary (''
fl.
''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...
'' 1641–1697), became a nonconformist patron and political activist, and married
George Speke (1623–1689).
*Anne, married
Edward Phelips
Pye's brother
Walter Pye was also an MP.
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pye, Robert
1585 births
1662 deaths
Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall
People from Faringdon
Cavaliers
People from Herefordshire
16th-century English people
People from Westminster
People from Bath, Somerset
English MPs 1621–1622
English MPs 1624–1625
English MPs 1625
English MPs 1626
English MPs 1628–1629
Pye family