Sir Robert Sawyer, of

Highclere Castle Highclere Castle is a Grade I listed country house built in 1679 and largely renovated in the 1840s, with a park designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century. The estate is in Highclere in Hampshire, England, about south of Newbury, ...

(1633–1692) was the

Attorney General for England and Wales His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is one of the law officers of the Crown and the principal legal adviser to sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales. The attorney general maintains the Attorney ...

(1681–1687) and, briefly, Speaker of the English House of Commons. Robert was a younger son of Sir Edmund Sawyer, of Heywood Lodge, at

White Waltham White Waltham is a village and civil parish, west of Maidenhead, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is crossed briefly by the M4 motorway, which along with the Great Western Main Line and all other roa ...

, in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, who was

Auditor of the Exchequer The Auditor of the Receipt of the Exchequer was an office in the English Exchequer. The office originated in early times as the clerk of the Lord High Treasurer at the Receipt of the Exchequer. He was responsible for filing and entering the Teller' ...

. He attended

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, where he was a contemporary of

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

and later became a benefactor of the library there. Upon leaving university, he became a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

and took part in a number of well-known cases. He later became treasurer of Inner Temple. Sawyer was elected MP for

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

in 1673 and was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed four years later.History of Parliament Online - Sawyer Robert
/ref> He was elected speaker in 1678, but had to resign in under a month because of health problems. Three years later he was made attorney-general. Sir Robert prosecuted members of the

Rye House Plot The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and heir to the throne) James, Duke of York. The royal party went from Westminster to Newmarket to see horse races and were expected to make the ...

and also

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� ...

. He returned to private practice, and scored a great triumph as defence counsel in the Trial of the Seven Bishops. Sawyer settled at

Highclere Highclere (pronounced ) is a village and civil parish situated in the North Wessex Downs (an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) in the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire, England. It lies in the northern part of the county, near the B ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

where he built the house that preceded the present

. He was elected to Parliament for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1689 and 1690. He died at Highclere on 30 July 1692 and was buried in the old church there. He had married Margaret Suckeley and had one daughter, Margaret Sawyer, who married

Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke and 5th Earl of Montgomery, (c. 165622 January 1733), styled The Honourable Thomas Herbert until 1683, was an English and later British statesman during the reigns of William III and Anne. Background Herbe ...

. Their descendants the Earls of Carnarvon eventually inherited

. He also had a son George, and through George's daughter Catherine was ancestor of the Marquess of Anglesey.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sawyer, Robert 1633 births 1692 deaths People from Highclere People from White Waltham Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Attorneys General for England and Wales Members of the Inner Temple People of the Rye House Plot Knights Bachelor Speakers of the House of Commons of England English MPs 1661–1679 Members of the pre-1707 Parliament of England for the University of Cambridge English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695