Roger Flower or Flore (died 1427) was an English politician, twelve times MP for

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

and four times

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

Life

He was son of William Flower,

sheriff of Rutland This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of the English county of Rutland. The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown: there has been a Sheriff of Rutland since 1129. Formerly the sheriff was the principal law enforcement off ...

for 1383, by Elena his wife. He was returned to parliament as

Knight of the Shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...

for the county of Rutland in 1396–7, again in 1399, 1402, 1404, and 1413–14. He was one of the

feoffee Under the feudal system in England, a feoffee () is a trustee who holds a fief (or "fee"), that is to say an estate in land, for the use of a beneficial owner. The term is more fully stated as a feoffee to uses of the beneficial owner. The use o ...

s of the

Brigittine The Bridgettines, or Birgittines, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Savior (; abbreviated OSsS), is a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church founded by Saint Birgitta or Bridget of Sweden in 1344, and approved by Pope Urban ...

nunnery founded by

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

at Syon in 1414. Still representing the county of Rutland, he was chosen speaker of the House of Commons four times—in 1416, 1417, 1419, and 1422, something unprecedented except in the case of

Thomas Chaucer Thomas Chaucer (c. 136718 November 1434) was an English courtier and politician. The son of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer and his wife Philippa Roet, Thomas was linked socially and by family to senior members of the English nobility, though he ...

. He was a lawyer with considerable private and public interests. In 1416 he was made chief steward of the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of ...

estates north of the Trent. Besides his ancestral manor of

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

, he held estates in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

. He was appointed

Sheriff of Rutland This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of the English county of Rutland. The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown: there has been a Sheriff of Rutland since 1129. Formerly the sheriff was the principal law enforcement off ...

for 1407 and 1412. The probate of his will was dated 20 June 1428; Flower had died by 12 November 1427.

Family

His first wife was Catherine, daughter and heiress of William Dalby of Exton. His second wife, Cecile, daughter of Anneys Sainon, survived him. He had five sons, Thomas, Robert, Roger, John, and William, and two daughters, Anneys and Joan, the latter being married to Sir Henry Plesyngton of Burley in Rutland, grandson of Sir Robert Plesyngton, chief baron of the exchequer in the reign of Richard II. His eldest son and heir Thomas was twice MP for Rutland and six times Sheriff of Rutland. The family home, called Flore's House, is a prominent listed building on High Street, Oakham."‘The Unmistakable Fashion Of The Time’?: Dating Flore’s House At Oakham, Rutland"; ''Vernacular Architecture'', Vol. 41 (2010) 28–3
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References

Roger Flore of Oakham by J. S. Roskell
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flower, Roger 14th-century births 1427 deaths Speakers of the House of Commons of England High Sheriffs of Rutland English MPs April 1414 English MPs 1399 English MPs 1402 English MPs January 1404