Edward Atkyns (1630-1698)
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Sir Edward Atkyns (c 1630 – October 1698) was an English lawyer and 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 1660. He was the
Chief Baron of the Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who pre ...
from 1686 to 1689.


Life

Atkyns was the younger son of Sir Edward Atkyns of Hensington and Albury Hall,
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
and his first wife Ursula Dacres, daughter of Sir Thomas Dacres of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. History of Parliament Online - Atkyns, Edward
/ref> He was admitted at
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in October 1646. He was admitted at
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on 19 June 1647 and was called to the bar in 1653. In 1656 he became a J.P. for Woodstock and Hertfordshire. In 1660, Atkyns 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
Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
in the Convention Parliament. He was commissioner for oyer and terminer for the London, Oxford and Midland circuits in July 1660 and commissioner for assessment for
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
from August 1660 to 1661. In November 1660 he was granted a 40-year
monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
in the publication of law books. He was commissioner for assessment for Hertfordshire from 1661 to 1680. He was
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of Woodstock from 1661 to 1662. In 1669 he succeeded to the Albury estate on the death of his father. In 1675 Atkyns was appointed autumn reader at his inn of court, and in Easter term 1679 was made a
serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writ ...
. Having secured some reputation for legal learning and for hospitality, he was raised to the bench as one of the
Barons of the Exchequer The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was a ...
on 22 June 1679. He was
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on 26 June 1679. He took a prominent part in the trial of Fr
Thomas Thwing Thomas Thwing (1635–1680) was an English Roman Catholic priest and martyr, executed for his supposed part in the Barnbow Plot, an offshoot of the fabricated Popish Plot invented by Titus Oates. His feast day is 23 October. Early life His fath ...
and Mary Pressicks, who were charged on 29 July 1680, at the instigation of the anti-catholic agitators of the day, with compassing the death of King Charles II and seeking the overthrow of the
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
religion; in his summing up Atkyns placed the case before the jury with becoming impartiality, and Mrs. Pressicks was acquitted, although Fr Thwing was found guilty. At the close of the same year, he was one of the judges appointed to try
William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford, FRS (30 November 1614 – 29 December 1680) was the youngest son of Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, and his wife, the former Alethea Talbot. A Fellow of the Royal Society from 1665, he was a Royalist ...
and other
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peers on a charge of high treason, but he there supported his colleagues in their contention that the law, which demanded two witnesses to every overt act of
treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
, might on occasion be waived. On 21 April 1686, when
Lord Chief Baron The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who p ...
Montagu was removed from the bench for refusing to certify to the legality of the dispensing power exercised by James II, Atkyns was promoted to his place. After the revolution of 1688 he consistently refused to take the oaths of allegiance to
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, and consequently resigned his office. His elder brother Sir Robert Atkyns was immediately appointed in his place. Shortly afterwards Atkyns retired from public life, and withdrew to his country seat at
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,
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. Although he continued to hold Jacobite opinions, he showed no bitterness of spirit to those who differed from him, and earned the gratitude of all classes of his neighbours by his tact in settling their disputes. Atkyns died in London at the age of about 68 as a result of a
kidney stone Kidney stone disease, also known as nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, is a crystallopathy where a solid piece of material (kidney stone) develops in the urinary tract. Kidney stones typically form in the kidney and leave the body in the urine s ...
.


Family

Atkyns married Elizabeth Lucy, daughter of Francis Lucy of the Strand, Westminster on 9 December 1656. He had two sons and seven daughters.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkyns, Edward 1630 births 1698 deaths English Jacobites English lawyers English MPs 1660 17th-century English lawyers Chief Barons of the Exchequer