Thomas Archer (ca. 1619 – 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. ...

in 1659 and 1660. He fought in the

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

army 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 ...

Life

Archer was the eldest surviving son of Sir Simon Archer of

Umberslade Hall Umberslade Hall is a 17th-century mansion converted into residential apartments situated in Nuthurst near Tanworth-in-Arden, Warwickshire. It is a Grade II* listed building. The Archer family were granted the manor of Umberslade by Henry II in ...

in Tanworth in Arden,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

and his wife by Anne Ferrers, daughter of Sir John Ferrers of Tamworth Castle, Staffordshire. He was baptised on 14 January 1619. History of Parliament Online - Archer, Thomas
/ref> Archer served as a Parliamentary Colonel during the

. In 1659, 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 of ...

for

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

in the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a powe ...

. He was elected MP for

in April 1660 for the Convention Parliament. Archer died at the age of about 66 and was buried at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Tanworth-in-Arden on 25 October 1685.

Family

Archer married Anne Lye daughter of Richard Lye or Leigh, merchant of London by 1650, They had three sons and two daughters. His eldest son and heir was Andrew Archer and his second son was

Thomas Archer Thomas Archer (1668–1743) was an English Baroque architect, whose work is somewhat overshadowed by that of his contemporaries Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. His buildings are important as the only ones by an English Baroque architec ...

, the architect and courtier. Of his other children, Leigh died unmarried, Elizabeth married

Sir Herbert Croft, 1st Baronet Sir Herbert Croft, 1st Baronet ( – 3 November 1720) was a British politician. Family Croft was the only son of the Right Reverend Herbert Croft, Bishop of Hereford and Anne Browne, the only daughter of the Very Rev. Dr. Jonathan Browne an ...

, and Frances married

Sir Francis Rouse, 3rd Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

References

*Richard Cust, ‘Archer, Sir Simon (1581–1662)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', (Oxford University Press, 2004

accessed 8 Nov 2008. *Andor Gomme, ‘Archer, Thomas (1668/9–1743)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', (Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008

accessed 8 November 2008. , - 1619 births 1685 deaths People from Tanworth-in-Arden Roundheads English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 {{17thC-England-MP-stub