John Swinfen (19 March 1613 – 12 April 1694) 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. ...

variously between 1645 and 1691. He supported the

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

cause in a civil capacity 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 ...

. Swinfen was probably the son of Richard Swinfen, of Swinfen, Staffordshire. He was educated at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

and graduated BA in 1632. In 1645, Swinfen 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 of ...

for

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

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 ...

.History of Parliament Online - Swinfen, John
/ref> He was excluded in

Pride's Purge Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England. Despite defeat in the ...

in 1648. He was one of the Parliamentary Commissioners for Staffordshire. In 1659, Swinfen was elected MP for Tamworth 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 powe ...

. He was elected MP for Stafford in 1660 in the Convention Parliament. In 1661 he was elected MP for Tamworth for the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

and sat until 1679. He was re-elected MP for Tamworth in 1681 and sat until 1685. In 1690, he was elected MP for

Bere Alston Bere Alston is a village in West Devon in the county of Devon in England. It forms part of the civil parish of Bere Ferrers. History and geography With a population of about 2,000, the village lies in the Bere peninsula, between the rivers ...

and sat until 1691. Swinfen lived at Swinfen Hall near Freeford. He was commonly called " Russet-coat," from his affected plainness of dress.Handbook for travellers in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Staffordshire
/ref> He died at the age of 81 and was buried at

Weeford Weeford is a village and civil parish in the Lichfield district of Staffordshire, England. According to the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 215, an increase from 202 in the 2001 Census. The name ''Weeford'' is believed to come from ...

, Staffordshire. Swinfen married Ann Brandreth, daughter of John Brandreth and Jane Weston.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swinfen, John 1613 births 1694 deaths Roundheads Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge People from Tamworth, Staffordshire Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Stafford English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1690–1695 Members of the Parliament of England for Bere Alston