Andrew Archer (2 August 1659 – 31 December 1741), of Umberslade Hall,

Tanworth in Arden Tanworth-in-Arden (; often abbreviated to Tanworth) is a village and civil parish in the county of Warwickshire, England. It is south-southeast of Birmingham, north-east of Redditch and 8 miles (13 km) south-southwest of Solihull and is admin ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

was a British landowner and Tory politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

in three periods between 1690 and 1722.

Early life

Archer was baptized on 2 August 1659, the eldest son of

Thomas Archer Thomas Archer (1668–1743) was an English Baroque architect. His buildings are important as the only ones by an English Baroque architect to show evidence of study of contemporary continental, namely Italian, architecture. It is said that hi ...

of Umberslade, Warwickshire and his wife Anne Leigh, daughter of Richard Leigh of London. His father had been a parliamentary commander during the Civil War. He matriculated at

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

on 3 May 1678, aged 18; and was admitted at

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1680. Upon his father's death in 1685 he inherited Umberslade. He married Elizabeth Dashwood, daughter of Sir Samuel Dashwood by licence of 15 June 1693. His wife was connected to Fulke Greville, 5th Lord Brooke, a leading Warwickshire Tory. and the marriage brought him into contact with the world of finance.

Career

Archer was returned in a contest as Member of Parliament for

at the

1690 English general election The 1690 English general election occurred after the dissolution of the Convention Parliament summoned in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution, and saw the partisan feuds in that parliament continue in the constituencies. The Tories made sig ...

but was relatively inactive. He became a Commissioner for rebuilding Warwick in 1695 and was returned in a contest again at the

1695 English general election The 1695 English general election was the first to be held under the terms of the Triennial Act 1694, which required parliament to be dissolved and fresh elections called at least every three years. This measure helped to fuel partisan rivalry ov ...

. At first he refused to subscribe the Association. He voted against fixing the price of guineas in March 1696, and voted against the

attainder In English criminal law, attainder was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditary titles, but ...

of Sir John Fenwick on 25 November 1696. In 1697, he introduced and managed a bill to empower magistrates to order that highways be widened. He did not stand at the

1698 English general election After the conclusion of the 1698 English general election the government led by the Whig Junto believed it had held its ground against the opposition. Over the previous few years, divisions had emerged within the Whig party between the 'court' su ...

and spent the next few years to 1700 rebuilding Umberslade. In 1700 he became deputy lieutenant. He maintained his interest in political affairs in London and Warwickshire, but did not stand for Parliament again until asked to fill the gap at a by-election for Warwickshire on 28 November 1705. He was returned unopposed as a Tory and was active in Parliament. At the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November the Whi ...

, he was returned unopposed as Tory MP for Warwickshire. He was a teller for the Tories on several occasions and saw through a bill for a new church at Birmingham. He was active in the matter of Dr Sacheverell and voted against the impeachment proceedings in 1710. He decided not to stand at the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

, but in 1711 was appointed Commissioner in the inquiry into forces and garrisons in Spain, Portugal and Italy. He spent two years in constant travel and uncovered many fraudulent practices in Spain. However he felt his efforts were unappreciated and was disappointed to receive no reward. At the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election was held on 22 August 1713 to 12 November 1713, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 R ...

he was invited to stand by the Warwickshire gentry and was returned unopposed as Tory MP for Warwickshire again. He was teller for the Tories a few times but was noted as voting with the Whigs on occasion. Archer was returned again at the

1715 British general election The 1715 British general election was held on 22 January 1715 to 9 March 1715, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliam ...

, and supported the opposition until he stood down at the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

Later life and legacy

Archer became increasingly indebted, having borrowed to purchase another manor in 1716. He appeared to have devoted his efforts to building a library. He died on 31 December 1741 at Umberslade. His children were: *Diana Archer, who married Thomas Chaplin * Thomas Archer, 1st Baron Archer (1695–1768)thepeerage.com
/ref> *

Henry Archer Henry Archer (1799 – 2 March 1863) was the son of an Irish landowner. He attended Trinity College, Dublin. He was called to the Irish Bar and spent most of his time between North Wales and London. Ffestiniog Railway In railway circles, A ...

(1700–1768), married Elizabeth Montagu, sister of

George Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax George Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax (also spelt George Montague) (9 May 1739), of Horton, Northamptonshire, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1705 to 1715 when he became a peer. Early life Montagu was the son of ...

*Anne Archer *Elizabeth Archer *Sarah Archer Archer's sons Thomas and Henry were both returned to Parliament in 1735.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Andrew 1659 births 1741 deaths English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1705–1707 British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies People from Tanworth-in-Arden 17th-century English landowners 18th-century English landowners