Richard Tufton (1585 – 4 October 1631) was an English lawyer 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 1614 and 1629. Tufton was of Kent. He matriculated at

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

on 30 June 1598, aged 13. He was called to the bar at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1609. In 1614, he was elected member of parliament for

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

. He was elected MP for

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

in 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. 'Alumni Oxonienses, 1500–1714: Tracie-Tyson', Alumni Oxonienses 1500–1714 (1891), pp. 1501–1528. Date accessed: 3 June 2012
/ref> He built

Tufton Street Tufton Street is a road in Westminster, London, located just outside of the Westminster Abbey precinct. It was built by Sir Richard Tufton during the 17th century. Today it hosts a number of right-leaning lobby groups and think tanks. As a resu ...

in Westminster. Tufton is buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

, his grave marked by a memorial in white and black marble with a portrait bust below figures of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

and Mercury.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tufton, Richard 1585 births 1631 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford Burials at Westminster Abbey English MPs 1614 English MPs 1628–1629 Members of Gray's Inn