Sir Thomas Bowyer, 1st Baronet (28 November 1586 – February 1651) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
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Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
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. T ...
at various times between 1614 and 1642. He supported the
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...
cause 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 ...
.
Bowyer was the son of
Thomas Bowyer, of Leighthorne, Sussex, and his second wife Jane Birch, daughter of
John Birch,
Baron of the Exchequer, and was baptised on 4 December 1586 in
Mundham in Sussex. His father died on 7 March 1595 when he succeeded to the estates.
[George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Volume 2'']
/ref> In 1614, 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 o ...
(MP) for Midhurst
Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester.
The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...
. He was elected MP for Bramber in 1621, and was re-elected in 1624, 1625 and 1626. He was a High Sheriff of Surrey
The list of known High Sheriffs of Surrey extends back to 1066. At various times the High Sheriff of Surrey was also High Sheriff of Sussex (1229–1231, 1232–1240, 1242–1567, 1571–1635).
1066–1228
(High Sheriffs of Surrey only)
1229– ...
and High Sheriff of Sussex
The office of Sheriff of Sussex was established before the Norman Conquest. The Office of sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord-Lieutenant the prime office ...
between 1626 and 1627. On 23 July 1627, 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 14t ...
, of Leighthorne in the County of Sussex. He was re-elected MP for Bramber in 1629 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.
In April 1640, Bowyer was elected MP for Bramber in the Short Parliament. He was not initially elected to the Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...
in November 1640, but the election was declared void and he was re-elected in a by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
. He sat until 23 November 1642 when he was disabled for assisting in putting a garrison into Chichester
Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...
for the King. He was fined £2,033 as a delinquent on 18 May 1650.[
Bowyer was buried in Mundham on 28 February 1651.][
Bowyer married firstly Anne Stoughton, daughter of Adrian Stoughton, and around 1634 secondly Jane Stoughton, widow of Sir George Stoughton and daughter of Emery Cranley. He married a third time around 1642 to Anne. He had a son, Thomas, by his second wife, a son James, by his third wife, as well as twelve other children.][
]
References
1586 births
1650 deaths
Baronets in the Baronetage of England
High Sheriffs of Sussex
High Sheriffs of Surrey
English MPs 1614
English MPs 1621–1622
English MPs 1624–1625
English MPs 1625
English MPs 1626
English MPs 1628–1629
English MPs 1640 (April)
English MPs 1640–1648
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