Furness monument, All Saints, Waldershare 01

Sir Henry Furnese, 1st Baronet (30 May 1658 – 30 November 1712), of Waldershare, Kent, and Dover Street, Westminster, was an English merchant and Whig politician who sat in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

between 1698 and 1712. Furnese was the son of Henry Furnese, of

Sandwich, Kent Sandwich is a town and civil parish in the Dover District of Kent, south-east England. It lies on the River Stour and has a population of 4,985. Sandwich was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval buildings, including sev ...

and his wife Anne Gosfright, daughter of Andrew Gosfright of Sandwich.Cokayne, George Edward (1906)
Complete Baronetage
'. Volume V. Exeter: W. Pollard & Co. . p. 1 He was an apprentice of the Drapers’ Company in 1672, and pursued a career in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

as a merchant trader. He was knighted at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

on 21 October 1691. He was master of the Drapers' Company from 1694 to 1695. He was one of the original directors of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

when the bank was founded in 1694. He served as a member of the Director's Court of the bank from 1694 to 1697, 1699 to 1700 and 1700 to 1702. He was also a director of the New East India Company from 1698 to 1703. Furnese was elected as

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 Bramber at the 1698 English general election, but was expelled on 14 February the following year for holding a post incompatible with being a Member of Parliament. He was re-elected for

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

in 1701 but was again expelled the following month, only to be re-elected again, after which he held the seat until his death. Furnese was

Sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery company, livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have ...

, 1700–01, and was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

on 27 June 1707. In May 1711, he was selected as an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of the City of London, representing Bridge Ward Within. Description on Sir Henry Furnese monument, All Saints, Waldershare - geograph

He married twice: firstly in November 1684 to Anne Brough, the 19-year-old daughter of linen draper Robert Brough of

St Lawrence Jewry St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall is a Church of England guild church in the City of London on Gresham Street, next to Guildhall. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It is the ...

. She was buried in the parish church of St Lawrence Jewry on 30 June 1695. His second marriage was to Matilda, the widow of Anthony Balam and daughter of fellow London merchant Sir Thomas Vernon. Furnese died on 30 November 1712, aged 54, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

. His widow died 20 years later on 8 May 1732. His tomb in

Waldershare Waldershare is a village near Dover in Kent, England. In 1086, the village was in the hundred of Eastry in the ancient Lathe of Eastry.Thomas Green of

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.179

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furnese, Henry, 1st Baronet 1658 births 1712 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Sheriffs of the City of London Councilmen and Aldermen of the City of London English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707