Sir Samuel Sandys (15 June 1615 – 5 April 1685) 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. ...

at various times between 1640 and 1685. He fought for the

Royalists 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 ...

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 ...

Biography

Sandys was the son of Sir Edwin Sandys and his wife Penelope Bulkeley, daughter of Sir Richard Bulkeley . He was grandson of Sir Samuel Sandys , who had represented

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 His ...

in parliament in the time of

King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

. In April 1640, Sandys 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 of ...

for

Droitwich Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester. The ...

in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

. He was re-elected in November 1640 for 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 ...

. He supported the King and was disabled from sitting in August 1642. Colonel Sandys was made governor of Evesham in 1642 and commanded a troop of horse at the action at Wickfield and at the

Battle of Edgehill The Battle of Edgehill (or Edge Hill) was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642. All attempts at constitutional compromise between K ...

. Later he raised an infantry regiment and cavalry regiment for the king at his own expense. He was lieutenant-governor of Worcester under

Prince Maurice Maurice, Prince Palatine of the Rhine KG (16 January 1621, in Küstrin Castle, Brandenburg – September 1652, near the Virgin Islands), was the fourth son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and Princess Elizabeth, only daughter of King James VI ...

in 1644. Sandys compounded in 1646; his estates were sequestered, and he was imprisoned for a time in 1651. He was an active royalist plotter. In 1660 Sandys was re-elected as MP for Droitwich in the Convention Parliament. In 1661 he was elected MP for

in the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

and sat until 1681. He was re-elected MP for Droitwich in 1681 and held the seat until 1685. Sandys died on 5 April 1685 at the age of 69, and was buried at

Ombersley Ombersley is a village and civil parish in Wychavon district, in the county of Worcestershire, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Holt Fleet, where Telford's 1828 Holt Fleet Bridge crosses the River Severn. The 2011 census recorded a ...

. His monument there was designed by William bird of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis

Family

Sandys married firstly Mary Barker daughter of Dr Hugh Barker, and had two sons and a daughter: *

Samuel Sandys Samuel Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys (; 10 August 1695 – 21 April 1770), was a British Whig politician who represented Worcester in the House of Commons from 1718 until 1743, when he was created Baron Sandys. He held numerous posts in the governm ...

(died 1701), MP for Droitwich * Edwin Sandys (died 1685), BCL and Fellow of

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

* Mary Sandys (died 1681), unmarried, buried at

Wickhamford Wickhamford is a village and a civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is situated on the A44 road approximately halfway between the towns of Evesham and Broadway. It is mentioned in 1086 in the Domesday Book under the name of ''Wiquene'' ...

. His second wife was Elizabeth Pakington, daughter of Sir John Pakington and widow of Henry Washington. They had no children.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandys, Samuel 1615 births 1685 deaths Members of the Parliament of England for Droitwich Members of the Parliament of England for Worcestershire Cavaliers English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681