Sir Roger Jaques (died 1653) was an English 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 1640. Jaques was a merchant and chief magistrate of York and purchased an estate at Elvington.Arthur H. Cash ''Laurence Sterne: the early & middle years''
/ref> He became an alderman of the city in 1638 and was

Lord Mayor of York The Lord Mayor of York is the chairman of City of York Council, first citizen and civic head of York. The appointment is made by the council each year in May, at the same time appointing a sheriff, the city's other civic head. York's lord mayor ...

in 1639. He was knighted, together with

Thomas Widdrington Sir Thomas Widdrington SL (died 13 May 1664) was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1664. He was the speaker of the House of Commons in 1656. Life Widdrington was the son of Lew ...

on the visit of King Charles to York in March 1639. In April 1640, Jaques 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

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

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 ...

. Jaques supported the King in the Civil War, and in December 1644 was removed by parliament from the office of Alderman of York.'House of Commons Journal Volume 4: 30 December 1644', Journal of the House of Commons: volume 4: 1644-1646 (1802), pp. 4-5. Date accessed: 31 January 2011
/ref> Jaques married Mary Rawdon, daughter of

Marmaduke Rawdon Sir Marmaduke Roydon (also Rawdon and Rawden, with Royden a contemporary spelling) (1583 – 28 April 1646) was an English merchant-adventurer and colonial planter, known also as a Royalist army officer. Life The son of Ralph Roydon or Rawdon o ...

. Their granddaughter Mary married Simon Sterne, grandfather of the humourist

Laurence Sterne Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768), was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric who wrote the novels ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' and ''A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy'', published ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaques, Roger Year of birth missing 1653 deaths English MPs 1640 (April) Lord Mayors of York Knights Bachelor