Sir Francis Lawley, 2nd Baronet (c. 1630 – 25 October 1696) was an English courtier 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 ...

between 1659 and 1679. Lawley was the son of Sir Thomas Lawley, 1st Baronet of Spoonhill, near

Much Wenlock Much Wenlock is a market town and Civil parishes in England, parish in Shropshire, England; it is situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the north-east, is the Ironbridge Gorge and Telford. The civil parish incl ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

. He inherited the

Baronetcy 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 ...

and the estate on the death of his father in 1646. Lawley acquired the estate of the dissolved monastery of Canwell, in the parish of Hints,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, which became the family seat. In 1659, Lawley was elected Member of Parliament for Wenlock 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 po ...

. He was elected MP for Much Wenlock again in 1660 to the Convention Parliament. In 1661, he was elected MP for

for the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. With the exception of the Long Parliament, it was the longest-lasting English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring ...

and held the seat until 1679.History of Parliament Online – Lawley, Sir Francis, 2nd Bt.
/ref> From 1690 to 1696, he was

Master of the Jewel Office The Master of the Jewel Office was a position in the Royal Households of England, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. The office holder was responsible for running the Jewel House, which houses the Crown Jewels Crown jewels a ...

. Lawley married Anne Whitmore, daughter of

Sir Thomas Whitmore, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Whitmore, 1st Baronet (28 November 1612 – 1653) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England between 1640 and 1644. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War. Biography Whitmore was the son ...

of Apley. He was succeeded by his son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

References

, - , - 1630s births 1696 deaths English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 2

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

Masters of the Jewel Office {{1661-England-MP-stub