Sir Richard Norton, 1st Baronet (c. 1582 – June 1646) 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 1621 to 1622. He supported the

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 ...

cause in 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 ...

. In March 1608, Norton was set to join an embassy to Florence with the diplomat Stephen Lesieur. He was challenged to a duel by Henry Clare (a follower of the Earl of Montgomery) for wrongs done to his sister. Lesieur wrote to the Earl of Salisbury to prevent a fight. Trouble was avoided and Norton joined the embassy.''HMC Salisbury Hatfield'', vol. 20 (London, 1968), pp. 110–1. Norton was the son of Sir Richard Norton, of East Tisted, Hampshire and his wife Mabel Beecher, daughter of Henry Becher, Alderman of London. He matriculated 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 14 October 1597, aged 15. In 1602, he entered

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

. He was knighted at Hampton Court on 10 January 1611. He was High Sheriff of Hampshire from 1613 to 1614. In 1621, he was elected Member of Parliament for

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own Petersfield railway station, railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rai ...

. He was created

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 ...

on 18 May 1622.George E. Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Vol. 1'' (1900)
/ref> During the Civil War, Norton suffered in the royal cause. He was imprisoned in July 1644, and received a fine of £1,000 which was later reduced to £500. Norton died before 27 August 1645. He had married Amy Bilson, daughter of Thomas Bilson,

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

from 1597 to 1616. He was succeeded in the baronetcy successively by his sons

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

and

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 ...

References

1580s births 1646 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Members of the Middle Temple English MPs 1621–1622 High sheriffs of Hampshire {{1621-England-MP-stub