Sir Henry Moody, 1st Baronet (c. 1582 – 23 April 1629) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

between 1625 and 1629.

Ancestry

Moody's family had moved from Worcestershire to

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

, Wiltshire, by the end of the 15th century, where they leased property and pastureland from

Malmesbury Abbey Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, is a former Benedictine abbey dedicated to Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul. It was one of the few English religious houses with a continuous history from the 7th century throug ...

. The family came to prominence amongst the

gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

of Wiltshire subsequent to their acquisition, by royal grant, of several of the Abbey's estates, including Garsdon manor, subsequent to the Dissolution of the Monasteries. By 1544 the Moody family acquired the Whitchurch and Cleverton manors, both near Malmesbury, and extensive acreage elsewhere. Sir Henry was the son of Richard Moody (d. 1612), and the grandson of Richard Moody (d. 1550). Sir Henry's mother was Christiana Barwick, daughter of John Barwick, of Wilcot, Wiltshire.

Career

He was knighted at

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

on 18 March 1606. From 1618 to 1619, he was

Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) high sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Gove ...

. He was created

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 ...

on 11 March 1622. In 1625, he was elected Member of Parliament for

. He was re-elected MP for Malmesbury in 1626 and 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Volume 1'' 1900
/ref> Moody died at Garesdon about a month after the dissolution of parliament, at the age of about 46. Moody married on 20 January 1606 to Deborah Dunch, daughter of Walter Dunch of

Avebury Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in south-west England. One of the best-known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in ...

, Wiltshire and his wife Deborah Pilkington, daughter of

James Pilkington James Pilkington may refer to: *James Pilkington (bishop) James Pilkington (1520–1576), was the first Protestantism, Protestant Bishop of Durham from 1561 until his death in 1576. He founded Rivington and Blackrod High School, Rivington Gram ...

Bishop of Durham The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...

. She was a Nonconformist and, after Moody's death in 1629, emigrated to

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in 1636. In 1643 she was granted land in the southwestern part of the Dutch settlement in western Long Island, where she founded Gravensande between December 1654 and May 1659. The 1st Baronet's son, also Henry, who was a

cavalier The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...

during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, inherited the baronetcy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moody, Henry 1580s births 1629 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England High sheriffs of Wiltshire English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 Place of birth missing