Erasmus Earle (15 September 1590 – 10 September 1667) was an English lawyer and politician, who became

sergeant-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 wri ...

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

Life

He was the only son of Thomas Earle of Sall, Norfolk and his wife Anne Founteyn (spellings vary). He was born at Sall and educated at

Norwich Grammar School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as a ...

. He was admitted a student of

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

on 7 April 1612, and subsequently called to the bar there.

Sir Julius Caesar Sir Julius Caesar (1557/155818 April 1636) was an English lawyer, judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1589 and 1622. He was also known as Julius Adelmare. Early life and education Caesar was born near ...

appointed him steward of his manors of East Bradenham and Huntingfield Hall in 1626. He was a bencher of his inn between 1635 and 1641 inclusive, and was reader there in the autumn of 1639. In 1640 he purchased

Heydon Hall Heydon Hall is an Elizabethan house set in parkland near the village of Heydon, Norfolk, England. The hall is Grade I listed on the National Heritage List for England, and its gardens are Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Ga ...

from Sir Robert Kemp. In 1644 he was appointed with

John Thurloe John Thurloe (June 1616 – 21 February 1668) was an English politician who served as secretary to the council of state in Protectorate England and spymaster for Oliver Cromwell and held the position of Postmaster General between 1655 and 1660. ...

secretary to the English Parliamentary commissioners for the

treaty of Uxbridge The Treaty of Uxbridge was a significant but abortive negotiation in early 1645 to try to end the First English Civil War. Background Parliament drew up 27 articles in November 1644 and presented them to Charles I of England at Oxford. Much inpu ...

. On 4 January 1647 he was returned to Parliament for the City of Norwich. As a member of 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 ...

and

Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament was the English Parliament after Colonel Thomas Pride commanded soldiers to purge the Long Parliament, on 6 December 1648, of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason. "Rump" n ...

, he was no radical, but with the group of conservative lawyers, including Nathaniel Bacon, William Ellis, Nicholas Lechmere, Lislibone Long, and William Stephens.Blair Worden, ''The Rump Parliament 1648-1653'' (1974) p. 65 and p. 109. On 12 October 1648 he was called to the degree of

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 ...

. The same year he was appointed steward, and the following year recorder of the city of Norwich. The latter office he held until 1653. The only public act of importance which marked his tenure of this office was the trial (for which he received a special commission) of some rioters in the streets of Norwich, showing their disgust at the suspension of the mayor by the parliament and their sympathy with the royalist cause. On Christmas Day 1648 Earle passed sentence of death on several of the ringleaders.

, on assuming the protectorate (16 December 1653), appointed Earle one of the counsel to the state, an office which he also held under

Richard Cromwell Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who was the second and last Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and son of the first Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. On his father's death ...

, but he did not figure in any of the state trials of the period. On the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

of 1660 he was again called to the degree of serjeant-at-law (22 June 1660) (Siderfin's Reports, 3). His name does not appear much in the reports, but he amassed by his practice a considerable fortune, and founded the county family of Earle of Heydon Hall. He died on 7 September 1667, and was buried in the parish church of

Heydon, Norfolk Heydon is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is located north of the market town of Reepham. The village can be accessed by the public only from the south, resulting in the only road, called The Street, effectively being a cul- ...

Family

By his wife, Frances, his first cousin and daughter of James Fountaine of

Salle, Norfolk Salle ( ) is a small village and civil parish in the Broadland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. to the south is the market town of Reepham. The name, pronounced ''Saul'', derives from "Sallow Wood" — ''sallow'' referring to wil ...

, he had four sons and two daughters:''Darwin Pedigree'', by F. B. Freeman; London; 1984, p. 5.
/ref> * Frances Earle (died 23 September 1618) * John Earle (26 August 1622 – 12 April 1667) * Martin Earle (

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

8 March 1628, executor of his mother's will in 1672) * Thomas Earle (27 April 1624 – 9 August 1659) * Edward Earle (29 August 1631 – 3 October 1697) * Anne Earle (1 May 1634 – 1691)

Erasmus Darwin Erasmus Robert Darwin (12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave-trade abolitionist, inventor, and poet. His poems ...

was his great-great-grandson, through his daughter Anne who married the barrister William Darwin; hence the Erasmus forename in the

Darwin family Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

Notes

References

External links

* http://www.lowestoftwitches.com/erasmus_earle.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Earle, Erasmus 1590 births 1667 deaths English barristers English politicians People educated at Norwich School People from Broadland (district) People from Heydon, Norfolk