Sir Ralph Verney, 1st Baronet, of Middle Claydon

Sir Ralph Verney, 1st Baronet DL, JP (12 November 1613 – 24 September 1696) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

baronet and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. ...

at various times between 1640 and 1690.

Background

Baptised at

Hillesden Hillesden is a village and civil parish in north-west Buckinghamshire, England, about south of Buckingham. The village name is Anglo-Saxon in origin, and means 'Hild's hill'. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the village was recorded as ''Ilesdo ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, he was the eldest son of Sir Edmund Verney and his wife Margaret, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Denton. He was the great grandson of Hon. Elizabeth Verney, second daughter of the first

Baron Braye Baron Braye, of Eaton Bray in the County of Bedford, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1529 for Edmund Braye, 1st Baron Braye. However, the family originally originate from Normandy, they are direct descendants of Chevalier ...

. Verney was educated at

Magdalen Hall, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colleg ...

and was called to the bar by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

Career

Verney entered the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

in 1640, sitting as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

. He was re-elected MP for Aylesbury for the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

in November 1640. He was present in the trial of

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, (13 April 1593 ( N.S.)12 May 1641), was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1 ...

in January 1641, making notes, and was knighted in March. Verney opposed

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...

before the Civil War, and sided with the Parliamentarians at its outset; however, when he did not partake in the Solemn League and Covenant in 1643, he was forced to flee into exile; three years thereafter his assets were confiscated. He went first to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, met his wife in

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where she died, and arrived then in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He was disabled from sitting in Parliament on 22 September 1645. Following his return to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1653, Verney was captured and imprisoned two years later, however released with a fine in 1656. After the

English Restoration The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to be ...

in 1660, on advice of

Anne Wilmot, Countess of Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area **History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison R ...

, Verney stood for

Great Bedwyn Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun (River Kennet), River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough, Wilt ...

, but was unsuccessful. He was appointed a

Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer In English law, oyer and terminer (; a partial translation of the Anglo-French ''oyer et terminer'', which literally means "to hear and to determine") was one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat. Apart from its Law French name, th ...

for the Norfolk circuit in July and a

Commissioner of Assessment A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

in August, serving in

. For the latter county Verney was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

as well as a Deputy Lieutenant. On 16 March 1661,

King Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of King of England, England, Scotland and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II ...

made him a Baronet, of

Middle Claydon Middle Claydon is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is about south of Buckingham and about west of Winslow. The toponym "Claydon" is derived from the Old English for "clay hill". ...

, in the County of Buckingham. A year later, he became a

Commissioner of Sewers A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a Regulatory agency, commission or an individual who has been given a Wiktionary: commission, commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, th ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

and was additionally a

commissioner for loyal and indigent officers The Commissioners for loyal and indigent officers were a body formed by a 1662 Act of the Parliament of England (14 Car. 2 c. 8) to provide relief to impoverished Royalist officers who had served in the English Civil War. After the English Resto ...

in the same county. In 1675, Verney was nominated a Commissioner of Recusants in Buckinghamshire. He was re-elected to the House in 1681 and represented

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

until 1690. During this time as

, he spoke against the coronation of William of Orange as king of

Family

On 31 May 1629, Verney married

Mary Blacknall Mary Verney (née Blacknall, 1616 – 10 May 1650) was the wife of Sir Ralph Verney, 1st Baronet, of Middle Claydon DL, JP (1613–1696), an English baronet and politician who sat in the House of Commons. Mary Blacknall was the daughter of Jo ...

, daughter of John Blacknall in Hillesdon and had by her three sons and as many daughters. He died, aged 82 and was buried at

on 9 October 1696. His eldest son Edmund predeceased him and Verney was succeeded in the baronetcy by his second 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 * Secon ...

, who was later raised to the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

as Viscount Fermanagh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verney, Ralph 1613 births 1696 deaths Alumni of Magdalen Hall, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of England Deputy Lieutenants of Buckinghamshire Members of the Middle Temple

Ralph Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1685–1687 English MPs 1689–1690