Sir James Harington, 3rd Baronet of Ridlington (30 December 1607 – 1680)
/ref>John Tapin

References Reference is a relationship between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to ''refer to'' the second object. It is called a ''name'' ...

writes that in most existing contemporary records the spelling of the name was with a double 'r', and that the single 'r' is used in some instances, and that this is the way the family spells their name today. was an English

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 ...

and a Parliamentarian commander during 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 ...

Early life

James Harington was the eldest son of

Edward Harington of Ridlington Sir Edward Harington, 2nd Baronet of Ridlington (died 1652), English landowner. Edward Harington was the eldest son Sir James Harington of Ridlington and Frances Sapcote. He married Margaret Doyley (c. 1578–1658) in 1601, in a double wedding ...

and Margaret Doyley. He married Katherine Wright (1617-1675), a daughter of Sir Edmund Wright,

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

, and inherited

Swakeleys House Swakeleys House is a Listed building, Grade I-listed 17th-century mansion in Ickenham, London Borough of Hillingdon, built in 1638 for the future Lord Mayor of London, Sir Edmund Wright. Originally the home of the lords of the manor of Swakeley ...

from Wright.

Military career

Harrington was

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

of the

Westminster Trained Bands The Westminster Trained Bands were a part-time military force established in 1572, recruited from residents of the City of Westminster. As part of the larger London Trained Bands, they were periodically embodied for home defence, such as during ...

(the Red Regiment) in 1642, and he commanded a London brigade (his own regiment, together with the Green Auxiliary Trained Bands of London and the

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...

Auxiliaries (the Yellow Regiment)) in Sir

William Waller Sir William Waller JP (c. 159719 September 1668) was an English soldier and politician, who commanded Parliamentarian armies during the First English Civil War, before relinquishing his commission under the 1645 Self-denying Ordinance. ...

's Parliamentarian army at the

Siege of Basing House The siege of Basing House near Basingstoke in Hampshire, was a Parliamentarian victory late in the First English Civil War. Whereas the title of the event may suggest a single siege, there were in fact three major engagements. John Paulet ...

and

Battle of Alton The Battle of Alton (also Storm of Alton), of the First English Civil War, took place on 13 December 1643 in the town of Alton, Hampshire, England. There, Parliamentary forces serving under Sir William Waller led a successful surprise a ...

in late 1643. As a

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, Harrington led out another brigade of suburban Trained Bands (the Tower Hamlets Regiment, the Southwark White Auxiliaries and the Westminster Yellow Auxiliaries) to join Waller in the campaign that culminated at the

Battle of Cropredy Bridge The Battle of Cropredy Bridge was fought on 29 June 1644 near Banbury, Oxfordshire during the First English Civil War. In the engagement, Sir William Waller and the Parliamentarian army failed to capture King Charles. The site was placed ...

on 29 June 1644. For the great combination of Parliamentary armies in the autumn of 1644, London provided a fresh brigade of five regiments under Harrington. It fought at the

Second Battle of Newbury The Second Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War fought on 27 October 1644, in Speen, adjoining Newbury in Berkshire. The battle was fought close to the site of the First Battle of Newbury, which took place in la ...

, where Harrington had his horse shot under him.

Political career

He was elected MP for

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

(1646–1653) and

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

(1654–55). Although he did not sign the death warrant, Harrington was one of the Commissioners (Judges) at the trial of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

. During the

Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...

, he continued to serve the Parliamentary cause, He served on the first

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

and later was for a time president of the council. 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 ...

he was exempted from the

Indemnity and Oblivion Act The Indemnity and Oblivion Act 1660 was an Act of the Parliament of England (12 Cha. II c. 11), the long title of which is "An Act of Free and General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion". This act was a general pardon for everyone who had committe ...

which pardoned most for taking up arms against the King in the Civil War, and died in exile on the European mainland.

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment philo ...

''The history of England From the invasion of Julius Caesar to the revolution in 1688:Volume VI: The Commonwealth'' (1778): Endnote /ref> His baronetcy, which he had inherited on his father's death in 1653, was declared forfeited for life in 1661.

Notes

References

* John Adair, ''Cheriton 1644: The Campaign and the Battle'', Kineton: Roundwood, 1973, ISBN 0-900093-19-6. * Lt-Col Alfred H. Burne & Lt-Col Peter Young, ''The Great Civil War: A Military History of the First Civil War 1642–1646'', London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1959/Moreton-in-Marsh, Windrush Press, 1998, ISBN 1-900624-22-2.
Lawson Chase Nagel, ''The Militia of London, 1641–1649'', PhD thesis, King's College London, 1982.
* Stuart Reid, ''All the King's Armies: A Military History of the English Civil War 164–1651'', Staplehurst: Spelmount, 1998, ISBN 1-86227-028-7. * Keith Roberts, ''London And Liberty: Ensigns of the London Trained Bands'', Eastwood, Nottinghamshire: Partizan Press, 1987, ISBN 0-946525-16-1. * John Taplin
Shakespeare's Granddaughter and the Bagleys of Dudley
' published by the Black Country Society June 2005 (Originally published in 38/4, 39/1 and 39/2 of The Blackcountryman). * Margaret Toynbee & Brig Peter Young, ''Cropredy Bridge, 1644: The Campaign and the Battle'', Kineton: Roundwood, 1970, ISBN 0-900093-17-X.
Civil War at UK Battlefields Resource Centre

Early life

Military career

Political career

See also

Notes

References

Further reading