Sir Samuel Sandys (28 December 1560 – 18 August 1623) was an English landowner 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. T ...

at various times between 1586 and 1622.

Biography

Sandys was the eldest surviving son of Edwin Sandys,

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

, by his second wife Cecily Wilford. He was admitted to Merchant Taylors' School in April 1571, with his younger brothers

Edwin The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures. People * Edwin of Northumbria (die ...

and Miles (all three later became MPs). He entered 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 1579. He acquired the lease of the royal manor of

Ombersley Ombersley is a village and civil parish in Wychavon district, in the county of Worcestershire, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Holt Fleet, where Telford's 1828 Holt Fleet Bridge crosses the River Severn. The 2011 census recorded a ...

, Worcestershire in 1582. He 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 o ...

for

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...

in 1586, and succeeded to the property of his father in 1588. Although he initially lived in Essex, where his mother held land – his eldest son was baptised at Woodham Ferrers in 1591 – he settled at Ombersley thereafter, purchased the manor of

Wickhamford Wickhamford is a village and a civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is situated on the A44 road approximately halfway between the towns of Evesham and Broadway. It is mentioned in 1086 in the Domesday Book under the name of ''Wiquene'' ...

, Worcestershire in 1594, and purchased the manor of Ombersley from the Crown for £2,000 in 1614. He was a JP for Worcestershire from 1597, and was knighted by

King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

on 23 July 1603. He was elected MP for

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

in a by-election in 1609, re-elected in 1614 and 1621. By 1621, John Chamberlain numbered Sandys among the four chief speakers in the Commons. He often spoke in debates on electoral disputes, and raised matters of parliamentary procedure. In the Commons, Sandys often worked with his brother Sir Edwin Sandys, especially on colonial matters and international trade. Sir Samuel was a prominent member of the

Virginia Company The Virginia Company was an English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606 with the object of colonizing the eastern coast of America. The coast was named Virginia, after Elizabeth I, and it stretched from present-day Mai ...

, of which Sir Edwin was treasurer, and its spin-off, the

Somers Isles Company The Somers Isles Company (fully, the Company of the City of London for the Plantacion of The Somers Isles or the Company of The Somers Isles) was formed in 1615 to operate the English colony of the Somers Isles, also known as Bermuda, as a commerc ...

. A member of the Virginia committee from 1612, Sir Samuel was interested in the tobacco trade, the mainstay of Virginia's economy. He was

High Sheriff of Worcestershire This is a list of sheriffs and since 1998 high sheriffs of Worcestershire. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of t ...

1618–1619, and a member of the

council in the marches of Wales The Court of the Council in the Dominion and Principality of Wales, and the Marches of the same, commonly called the Council of Wales and the Marches () or the Council of the Marches, was a regional administrative body based in Ludlow Castle wi ...

in 1623. Sandys died on 18 August 1623, at the age of 62, and was buried at

, Worcestershire. His eldest son and heir, Sir Edwin Sandys, died three weeks later. Father and son, and their wives, are cast in alabaster effigy in their funerary monument in Wickhamford church.

Family

Sandys married Mercy Culpepper (daughter of

Martin Culpepper Martin Culpepper (or Culpeper or Colepeper; – 10 October 1605) was an English clergyman, medical doctor, and academic at the University of Oxford. Culpepper was educated at Winchester College, where he gained a scholarship aged 13 in 1554, and ...

) at

Southwell, Nottinghamshire Southwell (, ) is a minster and market town in the district of Newark and Sherwood in Nottinghamshire, England. It is home to the grade-I listed Southwell Minster, the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. The populat ...

in 1586. They had four sons and seven daughters: * Sir Edwin Sandys * Martin Sandys * John Sandys * William Sandys * Cecily Sandys, married John Brace * Margaret Sandys, married Sir

Francis Wyatt Sir Francis Wyatt (1588–1644) was an English nobleman, knight, politician, and government official. He was the first English royal governor of Virginia. He sailed for America on 1 August 1621 on board the ''George''. He became governor shortl ...

, Governor of Virginia * Anne Sandys, married Sir

Francis Wenman Sir Francis Wenman (9 December 1599 – 26 June 1640) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1628 and 1640. Biography Wenman was the only son of Francis Wenman of Caswell, Oxfordshire, who died in Ireland three m ...

* Mary Sandys, married Richard Humphrey * Mercy Sandys, married Mr. Ewbank * Joyce Sandys, married Edward Dyneley, Lord of Charlton Manor, Worcestershire. * Elizabeth Sandys, married

Edward Pytts Edward Pytts (1606 – 3 November 1672) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1660. Life Pytts was the son of Sir James Pytts of Kyre who had been High Sheriff of Worcestershire. He became ...

Note

Collins states wrongly that Elizabeth married secondly George Walsh. Elsewhere Collins states correctly that it was Elizabeth's daughter Mercy Pytts, married firstly Henry Bromley , who married secondly

George Walsh George Frederick Walsh (March 16, 1889 – June 13, 1981) was an American actor. An all-around athlete, who became an actor and later returned to sport, he enjoyed 40 years of fame and was a performer with dual appeal, with women loving hi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandys, Samuel High Sheriffs of Worcestershire English landowners English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1614 English MPs 1621–1622 People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Members of the Middle Temple People from Ripon 1560 births 1623 deaths Members of the Parliament of England for Worcestershire