
John Hampden (21 March 1653 – 12 December 1696), the second son of
Richard Hampden, and grandson of
ship money tax protester
John Hampden, returned to England after residing for about two years in France, and joined himself to
William Russell and
Algernon Sidney and the party opposed to the arbitrary government of
Charles II. With Russell and Sidney, he was arrested in 1683 for alleged complicity in the
Rye House Plot, but more fortunate than his colleagues his life was spared although, as he was unable to pay the fine of £40,000 which was imposed upon him, he remained in prison. Then in 1685, after the failure of
Monmouth's rising, Hampden was again brought to trial, and on a charge of
high treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...
was condemned to death. But the sentence was not carried out, and having paid £6000 he was set at liberty. In the
Convention Parliament of 1689, he represented
Wendover, but in the subsequent parliaments, he failed to secure a seat. It was Hampden who in 1689 coined the phrase "
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...
".
[In testimony before a House of Lords committee in the fall of 1689; (2004), ''The Revolution of 1688-89: Changing Perspectives'', Cambridge U.P., 310 pages , p. 3] He died by his own hand on 12 December 1696. Hampden wrote numerous
pamphlets, and
Bishop Burnet described him as "one of the learnedest gentlemen I ever knew".
He married Sarah Foley (died 1687), and had two children:
*
Richard Hampden (aft. 1674 – 27 July 1728), an MP and Privy Counsellor
* Letitia Hampden, who married
John Birch MP as his second wife
After her death, he married Anne Cornwallis and had two children:
*
John Hampden (c. 1696 – 4 February 1754), an MP
* Ann Hampden (died September 1723), married Thomas Kempthorne
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampden, John
1653 births
1696 deaths
People from Buckinghamshire
People of the Rye House Plot
English MPs 1679
English MPs 1680–1681
English MPs 1681
English MPs 1689–1690
English politicians convicted of crimes
British politicians who died by suicide
Suicides by sharp instrument in England