Sir John Rous, 1st Baronet (c. 1608 – 27 November 1670) 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 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 ...

from 1660 to 1670.

Biography

Rous was the son of Sir John Rous of

Henham Hall Henham Park is an historic estate in the parish of Wangford with Henham, situated north of the village of Blythburgh in the English county of Suffolk. The park is bordered to the east by the A12 road (England), A12 road and to the west by the ...

and his wife Elizabeth Yelverton, daughter of

Sir Christopher Yelverton Sir Christopher Yelverton (1536 – 31 October 1612) was an English judge and Speaker of the House of Commons. Ancestry Christopher Yelverton came from an ancient Norfolk family, tracing their descent back to Andrew Yelverton, who held conside ...

, Lord Chief Justice.Arthur Collins ''The English baronetage: Volume 3, Part 1''
/ref> He was admitted to

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

on 10 October 1623 and graduated in 1626. The following year he was admitted to

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 ...

. Rous' father was a supporter of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

during 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 ...

, whereas Rous was a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

. He lived quietly during the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when Kingdom of England, England and Wales, later along with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, were governed as a republi ...

but was in correspondence with the exiled

Stuart Stuart may refer to: People *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) * Clan Stuart of Bute, a Scottish clan *House of Stuart, a royal house of Scotland and England Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, ...

court; on 27 April 1660, Charles II wrote to him from

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

to express appreciation of his loyalty. In 1660, Rous was elected Member of Parliament for

Dunwich Dunwich () is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon ...

in the Convention Parliament. He was created 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 ...

, of

Henham, Suffolk Henham is a former civil parish now in the parish of Wangford with Henham, in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. In 1961 the parish had a population of 90. The majority of the parish was covered by Henham Park. Hist ...

in the

Baronetage of England Baronets are hereditary titles awarded by the Crown. The current baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier, existing baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland and Great Britain. To be recognised as a baronet, it is necessary ...

on 17 August 1660, in reward for his loyalty to the king. In 1661 he was re-elected MP for Dunwich in 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 ...

, of which he was a moderately active member, and sat until his death in 1670. He was appointed to 75 committees and aligned himself with the

Court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

faction. His activity in the Commons declined after 1664 and on 15 December 1666 he was summoned to parliament to answer for his prolonged non-attendance. He commanded a regiment of the

Suffolk Militia The Suffolk Militia was an auxiliary military force in the county of Suffolk on the East Coast of England. From their formal organisation as Trained bands in 1558 until their final service as the Special Reserve, the Militia regiments of the cou ...

during the

Second Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War, began on 4 March 1665, and concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Breda on 31 July 1667. It was one in a series of naval wars between England and the Dutch Republic, driven largely by commercial disputes. Despi ...

.Frank Hussey, ''Suffolk Invasion: The Dutch Attack on Landguard Fort, 1667'', Lavenham: Terence Dalton, 1983; Landguard Fort Trust reprint 2005, ISBN 0-86138-027-4, pp. 57, 106. Rous married firstly Anne Bacon, daughter of Nicholas Bacon of Gillingham. He married secondly Elizabeth Knyvett, daughter of Thomas Knyvett of Ashwell Thorpe, Norfolk and by her had a son,

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 ...

, and two daughters. He died on 27 November 1670 and was buried at

Wangford Wangford is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wangford with Henham, in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England, just off the A12 trunk road on the edge of the Henham Park estate just outside Southw ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rous, John 1600s births 1670 deaths Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Baronets in the Baronetage of England Cavaliers English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 Members of Gray's Inn Members of the Parliament of England for Dunwich People from Wangford Year of birth uncertain Suffolk Militia officers Burials in Suffolk