Sir John Barrington, 3rd Baronet (1605 – 24 March 1683) of Barrington Hall, Essex 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 1645 and 1679.

Life

Barrington was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Barrington, 2nd Baronet and his first wife Frances Gobert, daughter of John Gobert. He was educated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. In 1635, after being

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

from

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 ...

, Barrington was knighted at

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

, and in 1644, he succeeded his father as baronet. His father died heavily in debt, and as a result the son later spent some time in the

Fleet Prison Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the River Fleet. The prison was built in 1197, was rebuilt several times, and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846. History The prison was built in 1197 off what is now ...

.George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage'' 1900
/ref> Barrington sent a petition to parliament alleging that his stepmother Judith Barrington was removing timber from the family estate to sell and that this damaged its value. There were a large number of legal disputes although Judith's biographer, Caroline M. K. Bowden, believes that his stepmother had the expertise and that she was in the right. Barrington was nominated to be one of the High Court Judges in the trial of

King Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after h ...

in 1649, Barrington, although he was a family connection of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

. He refused to attend its meetings and declined to sign the warrant for the king's

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

. From 1645 to 1648 and again from 1660 to 1679, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Newtown. He was a rather inactive member, due partly to his increasingly ill health.History of Parliament Online - Barrington, Sir John
/ref> In 1654 he was

High Sheriff of Essex The High Sheriff of Essex was an ancient sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of th ...

and also

High Sheriff of Hertfordshire The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire was an ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the foundation of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provi ...

. Barrington was married to Dorothy Lytton, daughter of Sir William Lytton. They had five sons and nine daughters. Barrington was buried at Hatfield Broadoak, a week after his death. His eldest son had died in his lifetime, and thus the baronetcy passed in turn to his grandsons John and

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

References

1605 births 1683 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of Gray's Inn 103

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 ...

High sheriffs of Essex High sheriffs of Hertfordshire English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 Members of Parliament for the Isle of Wight {{1661-England-MP-stub