Sir John Stonhouse, 2nd Baronet (1639–1700) 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 ...

at various times between 1675 and 1690. Stonhouse was the second son of Sir George Stonhouse, 3rd Baronet and his wife Margaret Lovelace, daughter of

Richard Lovelace, 1st Baron Lovelace Richard Lovelace, 1st Baron Lovelace (1564 – 22 April 1634) of Hurley, Berkshire was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1622. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Lovelace in 1627. Lovela ...

.George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Volume 4'' 1900
/ref> He subscribed at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

on 7 November 1655 and 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 ...

on 28 November 1656.'Alumni Oxonienses, 1500-1714: Stermont-Synge', Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714 (1891), pp. 1422-1452. Date accessed: 26 June 2012
/ref> In 1670, Stonhouse's father tried to surrender the patent of creation of the existing baronetcy and have a new one granted by King Charles II in order to disinherit his eldest son George from the baronetcy. This gave the succession to John, his second son instead. However it was later concluded that a new creation could not displace a former creation and so on the death of his father in 1675 Stonhouse succeeded to the 1670 creation, while his brother George was able to claim the original title. In 1675, Stonhouse was elected Member of Parliament for Abingdon 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 ...

. He was re-elected in the two elections of 1679, in 1681 and in 1685. In the 1689 election, he was defeated by the Whig Thomas Medlycott, but the poll was voided after a riot. When the poll was held again in May, John Southby (another Whig) was elected, but Stonhouse raised an

election petition An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

to contest the result. He was eventually successful, with the Commons ruling in his favour on 8 January 1690, but the Parliament was dissolved on 27 January and so Stonhouse never took his seat.Abingdon: History of Parliament Online, 1660-1690
/ref> Stonhouse died at the age of about 60. Stonhouse married by licence issued on 10 October 1668, Martha Spencer, widow of Richard Spencer, merchant of London and daughter of Robert Brigges and his wife Sarah Moreton, daughter of Thomas Moreton, of Shiffnal, Shropshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stonhouse, John 1639 births 1700 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford Members of Gray's Inn English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1689–1690 People from Radley