Sir Simon Archer (21 September 1581 – before 4 June 1662) was an English

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

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.

Life

Archer was the eldest son of Andrew Archer (1554–1629) of

Umberslade Hall Umberslade Hall is a 17th-century mansion converted into residential apartments situated in Nuthurst near Tanworth-in-Arden, Warwickshire. It is a Grade II* listed building. The Archer family were granted the manor of Umberslade by Henry II in ...

, near Tanworth in Arden,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. His arms are blazoned: ''Azure three arrows or.''Landed Families of Britain and Ireland: Archer of Umberslade and Hale, Barons Archer
accessed 28 November 2016. Like his father, he expanded the family estate. He was knighted on 21 August 1624 at Warwick Castle. In 1626, Archer was appointed

High Sheriff of Warwickshire This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of the English county of Warwickshire. 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 ...

and, in April 1640, elected as

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 Tamworth 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 ...

. He remained neutral 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 ...

in 1642, but two of his sons fought on the Parliamentary side. From 1644 he himself served on the parliamentarian subcommittee for accounts in Warwickshire, which served as a curb on the more militant members of the county committee. In the 1650s, he was active as a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in local government, and (unusually) retained this office after the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

, until his death. In 1654, he purchased the Jury Street House in Warwick as his town residence. In 1694, it was the 0.5 metre thick stone walls of Jury Street House that prevented the

Great Fire of Warwick The Great Fire of Warwick was a major conflagration that swept through the small town of Warwick, England, beginning at 2:00 p.m. on 5 September 1694 and lasting for six hours. The fire started from a stray spark from the blacksmith located in ...

, which destroyed the town's centre, from progressing down Jury Street to the

half-timbered Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

houses beyond. In the 18th century the town centre was rebuilt in

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

style, and his descendants constructed the Georgian frontage that Jury Street House has retained to the present, originally with the family coat of arms at the apex. His main claim to fame was as an antiquary, starting work on the history of his native county in the 1630s.

William Dugdale Sir William Dugdale (12 September 1605 – 10 February 1686) was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject. Life Dugdale was born at Shustoke, near Coleshi ...

was initially his assistant, but when Archer became more involved in public affairs, Dugdale took over the lead, resulting in the publication in 1656 of Dugdale's ''Antiquities of Warwickshire'', with an acknowledgement to Archer's work in the dedication. Archer had a significant collection of manuscripts that survive in the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the Warwickshire Record Office, and the Bodleian Library. He married Anne, daughter of Sir John Ferrers of

Tamworth Castle Tamworth Castle, a Grade I listed building, is a Norman castle overlooking the mouth of the River Anker into the Tame in the town of Tamworth in Staffordshire, England. Before boundary changes in 1889, however, the castle was within the edge of ...

. He was succeeded at Umberslade Hall by his second son,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

. His great-grandson, also named

, was created Baron Archer in 1747.'Parishes: Tanworth', ''Victoria County History, Warwickshire 5: Kington hundred'' (1949), pp. 165–175

Accessed 8 November 2008.

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Simon 1581 births 1662 deaths People from Tanworth-in-Arden English MPs 1640 (April) English antiquarians English justices of the peace Knights Bachelor High Sheriffs of Warwickshire 17th-century antiquarians Sheriffs of Warwickshire 17th-century English historians