John Lowry (died 1669) 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 ...

from 1640 to 1653. He served in the

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

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 ...

. Lowry was a chandler of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, and became a freeman of the city by apprenticeship. 'The city of Cambridge: Parliamentary representation', A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 3: The City and University of Cambridge (1959), pp. 68-76. Date accessed: 9 June 2011
/ref> He became one of the Common Council of Cambridge and in November 1640, 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

in 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 ...

, sharing the constituency with

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 K ...

. In the Civil War, Lowry became a colonel in the parliamentary army and in 1645 was seeking resources from the speaker of the Commons. He was then mayor of Cambridge and he came into dispute with

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

when he refused to take the customary oath to maintain the rights of the university. The university appealed to the House of Lords. The matter was not resolved until 1647 when the House of Lords ruled in favour of the Vice-Chancellor and made a general order that the Mayor should respect the privileges of the university. In 1659 Lowry was re-elected MP for Cambridge 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 po ...

. He was buried on the north side of the churchyard of the

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Cambridge The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, generally known as The Round Church, is an Anglican church in the city of Cambridge, England. It is located on the corner of Round Church Street and Bridge Street. Since 1950 the church has been designated a G ...

on 18 July 1669.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowry, John Year of birth missing 1669 deaths English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1648–1653 English MPs 1659