John Scudamore, 1st Viscount Scudamore (22 March 1601 – 19 May 1671) was an English diplomat and 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 ...

at various times between 1621 and 1629. In 1628 he was created

Viscount Scudamore Viscount Scudamore was a title in the Peerage of Ireland held by three generations of the Scudamore family. It was created on 1 July 1628 for the diplomat and politician John Scudamore, 1st Viscount Scudamore, Sir John Scudamore, 1st Baronet. He ...

in the

Irish peerage The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

Early life

Scudamore was the eldest son of Sir James Scudamore, of

Holme Lacy Holme Lacy is a village and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England. The population of the civil parish was 466 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census. Etymology The name of Holme Lacy is not from Old Norse language, Old No ...

, Herefordshire, and Mary Scudamore, daughter of Sir Thomas Throckmorton. He matriculated at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, on 8 November 1616 and was admitted to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1617.George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage'' 1900
/ref> From November 1618, he travelled in France, and returned the following year after the death of his father. His grandfather Sir John Scudamore obtained 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 ...

cy for him on 1 June 1620, giving him precedence locally three years. His younger brother was Barnabas Scudamore, the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

commander who led Royalist forces in the successful defence of Hereford in 1645.

Career

In 1621, Scudamore was elected Member of Parliament for

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

.Browne Willis ''Notitia parliamentaria, or, An history of the counties, cities, and boroughs in England and Wales: ... The whole extracted from mss. and printed evidences'' 1750 pp. 176–239
/ref> He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1622. By 1622, he had a warm friendship with

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I of England, Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Caroline era#Religion, Charles I's religious re ...

(later Archbishop of Canterbury), and followed his religious views. One aspect of this was his restoration of the church of Abbey Dore, the church of the former

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

, whose estates had come to his family at the dissolution. He did this in full

Laudian Laudianism, also called Old High Churchmanship, or Orthodox Anglicanism as they styled themselves when debating the Tractarians, was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the Church of England that tried to avoid the extremes of Rom ...

style. He also did work on other churches, and endowed some with impropriate tithes. Scudamore succeeded his grandfather in the family estate in 1623. He was one of the Council of the Marches on 25 August 1623. In 1624, he was re-elected MP for Herefordshire. He was created Baron Dromore and Viscount Scudamore in the peerage of Ireland on 1 July 1628. Also in 1628, he was elected MP for

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

and sat until 1629, when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. From 1635 to 1639, Scudamore was ambassador to France, and caused controversy by adorning the embassy chapel in Laudian style. However, the

Earl of Leicester Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837. History Earl ...

who was staunchly Protestant was appointed as extraordinary ambassador over his head, with the result that they two could not agree on policy. Scudamore was not particularly active on his return to England and his early participation in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

was limited. He was one of the "Nine Worthies" – nine justices who formed the royalist leadership in Herefordshire in the summer of 1642. The other "worthies" were Sir William Croft, Wallop Brabazon, Thomas Wigmore of Shobden, Thomas Price of Wisterdon, William Smallman,

Henry Lingen Sir Henry Lingen (23 October 1612 – 22 January 1662), Lord of Sutton, Lingen and Stoke Edith, was a Royalist military commander in Herefordshire during the English Civil War, and later a member of parliament. He was the son of Edward Lingen ...

, William Rudhall and Fitzwilliam Coningsby. Partly as a result of his rivalry with Coningsby for control of Herefordshire,

was surrendered to a small Parliamentarian force in 1643. Scudamore was sent to London as a delinquent and remained there under house arrest until 1647. After the

English Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...

, he resumed various local offices.

Legacy

In 1615, Scudamore married Elizabeth Porter, daughter of Sir Arthur Porter of

Llanthony Secunda Llanthony Secunda Priory was a house of Canons regular#Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, Augustinian canons in the parish of Hempsted, Gloucestershire, England, situated about south-west of Gloucester Castle in the City of Gloucester. It was fo ...

, Gloucester, and his wife Ann Danvers, daughter of John Danvers, of Dauntsey, Wiltshire. A painting by

Marcus Gheeraerts the younger Marcus Gheeraerts (also written as Gerards or Geerards; 1561/62 – 19 January 1636) was a Flemish artist working at the Tudor court, described as "the most important artist of quality to work in England in large-scale between Eworth and van ...

was commissioned to commemorate this. Scudamore died at the age of 70. His son, James Scudamore (died 1668), predeceased him. He was succeeded in his titles by his grandson, John Scudamore.

References

*Ian Atherton, 'Scudamore, John, first Viscount Scudamore (1601–1671)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press'', Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 24 March 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scudamore, John 1601 births 1671 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by Charles I People from Herefordshire

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

Ambassadors of England to France English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1628–1629 17th-century English diplomats Cavaliers