Sir John Ernle (1620 – June 1697) 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 ...

at various times between 1654 and 1695. He was one of the longest-serving

Chancellors of the Exchequer Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

, a position he held from 2 May 1676 to 9 April 1689.

Life

Ernle was the eldest surviving son of John Ernle of Whetham House, near

Calne Calne () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). at the northwestern extremity of the North Wessex Downs ...

, Wiltshire, and his wife Philadelphia Hopton, daughter of Sir Arthur Hopton of

Witham Friary Witham Friary is a small English village and civil parish located between the towns of Frome and Bruton in the county of Somerset. It is in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the ancient Forest of ...

, Somerset. 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

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

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 ...

. He was elected MP for Wiltshire again in 1660 for the Convention Parliament, and in 1661 for

Cricklade Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. History Cricklade ...

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 ...

. He was knighted by 4 April 1663. In 1671, he was commissioner for accounts of the commission for loyal and indigent officers and was

Controller of Storekeepers Accounts The Controller of Storekeepers Accounts also known as the Comptroller of Storekeepers Accounts was a principal member of the Navy Board who was responsible for managing and processing all naval store-keeping accounts and deliveries to naval yards ...

from 1671 to 1680. Ernle was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer on 2 May 1676 and was named a Privy Councillor in 1676. He held the post of Chancellor until 9 April 1689. He was named one of the

Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty The Board of Admiralty (1628–1964) was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. As that position was not always occupied, the purpose was to enable management of the day-to-day operational requi ...

on 26 September 1677. He was the only member of the Plantation Committee, which dealt with the American colonies, to attend all three sessions of July 1677, although he usually attended only a quarter of those meetings. In 1679, Ernle was elected MP for New Windsor. He was elected MP for

Great Bedwyn Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough. The Kennet and Avon Canal and the Reading to Taunton ...

in 1681. He succeeded to the estates of his father in 1684. In 1685 he was elected MP for Marlborough and was re-elected MP for Marlborough in 1689 and 1690. He did not stand for parliament in 1695 and retired to his country estates. Ernle died in 1697 and was buried at Calne on 27 June 1697. He made several charitable bequests to the poor of Calne,

Highworth Highworth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, England, about northeast of Swindon town centre. The 2011 Census recorded a population of 8,151. The town is notable for its Queen Anne and Georgian buildings, dating ...

and Bury Blunsdon. A free school for five boys founded by Ernle continued in his home county, Wiltshire, until 1829.

Family

Ernle married firstly under a settlement made on 1 March 1646, Susan Howe, daughter of Sir John Howe, 1st Baronet of Little Compton,

Withington Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, about south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington has a population of just ...

, Gloucestershire; they had two sons and seven daughters. He married secondly on 19 September 1672, Elizabeth Seymour widow of

Charles Seymour, 2nd Baron Seymour of Trowbridge Charles Seymour, 2nd Baron Seymour of Trowbridge (c. 1621 – 25 August 1665) was the son of Francis Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Trowbridge, whom he succeeded in the barony in 1664. Francis had been a younger brother of William Seymour, 2nd Duk ...

and daughter of William Alington, 1st Baron Alington of Killard. He was the father of Sir John Ernle, a notable naval officer of the

Third Anglo-Dutch War The Third Anglo-Dutch War ( nl, Derde Engels-Nederlandse Oorlog), 27 March 1672 to 19 February 1674, was a naval conflict between the Dutch Republic and England, in alliance with France. It is considered a subsidiary of the wider 1672 to 1678 ...

. His daughter Philadelphia Ernle (d.1692) married Sir John Potenger (d.1733). They are buried together in

Blunsdon Blunsdon is a civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, in Wiltshire, England, about north of the centre of Swindon, with the A419 forming its southern boundary. Its main settlement is the village of Broad Blunsdon, with Lower Blunsdon nearby; t ...

in Wiltshire, with a monument by

Peter Scheemakers Peter Scheemakers or Pieter Scheemaeckers II or the Younger (10 January 1691 – 12 September 1781) was a Flemish sculptor who worked for most of his life in London. His public and church sculptures in a classicist style had an important influenc ...

.''Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1851'' by Rupert Gunnis

Antecedents

Ernle was descended from John Ernle the Elder, Esquire, of Fosbury and Bishop's Cannings, Wiltshire (born 1461/2), the ancestor of the Wiltshire branch of the family, and from John Ernle, Esq., of

Sidlesham Sidlesham is a small village and civil parish, on the Manhood Peninsula, five kilometres (3 miles) south of Chichester in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It has a small primary school. The area has had a prebendary since med ...

, Sussex (died 1465), whose wife Margaret was a daughter of Nicholas Morley, Esq., of Glynde Place, Sussex. He was thus a kinsman of the Sir John Ernley who served as Solicitor General, Attorney General, and

Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

early in the 16th century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ernle, John Chancellors of the Exchequer of England 1620 births 1697 deaths 17th-century Royal Navy personnel Members of the Privy Council of England Lords of the Admiralty Place of birth missing Ernle family English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1685–1687 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Cricklade Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Wiltshire