Sir Thomas Rouse, 1st Baronet (27 March 1608 – 26 May 1676) 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 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 ...

variously between 1654 and 1660 and supported the

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

cause 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 ...

Biography

Rouse was the son of Sir John Rouse of

Rous Lench, Worcestershire Rous Lench is a village and civil parish in Wychavon, Worcestershire, England. Rous Lench Court, a 16th-century timber-framed building formerly the seat of the Rouse baronets, is a Grade II* listed building. St Peter's Church, Rous Lench is ...

who was MP in 1626. He matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford on 20 October 1626 and was awarded BA from

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...

on 31 January 1628. Also in 1628, he entered

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

. He was created Baronet Rouse of Rouse Lench on 23 July 1641.W R Williams ''Parliamentary History of the County of Worcestershire''
/ref> Rouse was added to the Committee for Worcestershire in 1645 and was

High Sheriff of Worcestershire This is a list of sheriffs and since 1998 high sheriffs of Worcestershire. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of t ...

in 1648. In 1654, 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 ...

for

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

in the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the Ho ...

.History of Parliament Online - Rous, Sir Thomas, 1st Bt.
/ref> He was an assessment commissioner in 1656 and was also Custos Rotulorum in 1656. In 1660, Rouse was elected MP for Evesham in the Convention Parliament. He became a J.P. on 10 July 1660. Rouse died at the age of 67 and was buried at Rouse Lench, where there is a monument. Rouse married firstly Jane Ferrers daughter of Sir John Ferrers of

Tamworth Castle Tamworth Castle, a Grade I listed building, is a Norman castle overlooking the mouth of the River Anker into the Tame in the town of Tamworth in Staffordshire, England. Before boundary changes in 1889, however, the castle was within the edge ...

, secondly Frances Murray daughter of David Murray and thirdly Ann.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rouse, Thomas 1608 births 1676 deaths High Sheriffs of Worcestershire Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple People from Evesham English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1660 Roundheads Members of the Parliament of England for Worcestershire