Sir Denny Ashburnham, 1st Baronet (c.1628 – 11 December 1697) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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. ...

at various times between 1660 and 1689.

Background

Ashburnham was the eldest son of Lawrence Ashburnham of Broomham Park,

Guestling Guestling is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is located north-east of Hastings on the A259 road to Rye. Its parish church is dedicated to St Laurence. History Guestling, referred to in t ...

, Sussex, and his second wife, Bridget Fleetwood, daughter of Sir George Fleetwood. His paternal grandfather was Adam Ashburnham, who sat in the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

Career

Draft instructing payment to Sir Denny Ashburnham 1669

Ashburnham was a Commissioner for the Militia and became 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 ...

for

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

in March 1660. In April 1660, 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 of ...

(MP) for

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

in the Convention Parliament. He was re-elected MP for Hastings in 1661 for the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

.History of Parliament Online - Ashburnham, Denny
/ref> On 15 May 1661, he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Bromham, in the County of Sussex. In 1665, Ashburnham was appointed a Commissioner of the Excise, a post he held for the next three years and again from 1688 until 1689. He became a Deputy Lieutenant for Sussex in 1670. He was a

Victualler of the Navy A victualler is traditionally a person who supplies food, beverages and other provisions for the crew of a vessel at sea. There are a number of other more particular uses of the term, such as: * The official supplier of food to the Royal Navy in ...

in 1671 and also between 1673 and 1677. Ashburnham was several times a Commissioner for Assessment and between 1683 and 1689 served as

Commissioner for Hearth-tax A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a Regulatory agency, commission or an individual who has been given a Wiktionary: commission, commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, th ...

. In 1685, he was nominated mayor of

. In the aftermath of the so-called

Popish Plot The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy invented by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the Kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate C ...

, Ashburnham was summoned in the trial of

Titus Oates Titus Oates (15 September 1649 – 12/13 July 1705) was an English priest who fabricated the " Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II. Early life Titus Oates was born at Oakham in Rutland. His father Samuel (1610� ...

as a witness. Ashburnham died at the age of about 68 and was buried at Guestling on 11 December 1697.

Family

Ashburnham married firstly Frances Ashburnham, daughter of John Ashburnham and aunt of

John Ashburnham, 1st Baron Ashburnham John Ashburnham, 1st Baron Ashburnham (15 January 1656 – 21 January 1710) was an English landowner and politician. Ashburnham was the son of William Ashburnham and the grandson of John Ashburnham. His mother was the Honourable Elizabeth, daug ...

. After her death, he married Anne Watkins, daughter of Sir David Watkins on 14 September 1675. He had four sons and two daughters by his first wife and three sons and one daughter by his second wife. Ashburnham was buried at

in Sussex and was succeeded in the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

by his sons

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and Charles successively.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashburnham, Denny 1697 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England People from Guestling Year of birth uncertain English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1685–1687