Edward Harley (Parliamentarian)

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Sir Edward Harley, 1749 engraving

Sir Edward Harley KB (21 October 1624 – 18 December 1700) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1646 and 1695. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War.

Biography[]

Harley was born in Brampton Bryan Castle, Herefordshire, the son of Sir Robert Harley, KB, and his third wife Brilliana, the daughter of Edward Conway, 1st Viscount Conway.[1] He was educated at Gloucester, Shrewsbury School and Magdalen Hall, Oxford. He was a student of Lincoln's Inn in 1641.[1]

In 1642, he took up arms in the Parliamentary cause against the King in 1642, though disapproving of military supremacy in the nation.[2] He was shot in the arm during a skirmish in Gloucestershire in August 1644.[3] In 1646 he was elected Member of Parliament for Herefordshire as a recruiter to the Long Parliament and was excluded in 1648 under Pride's Purge. In 1656 his father died and he inherited his estates, he was also elected MP for Herefordshire again in the Second Protectorate Parliament.[1]

He was elected MP for Herefordshire again in 1660 for the Convention Parliament. At the Restoration, Charles II made him Governor of Dunkirk in 1660. He was elected MP for Radnor in 1661 for the Cavalier Parliament and was re-elected in February 1679 for the First Exclusion Parliament. In the second election of 1679 he was elected MP for Herefordshire again, and was re-elected in 1681. He supported the revolution of 1688 and was re-elected for Herefordshire in 1689, in 1693 and 1695.[1]

Harley was a conscientious upholder of the rights of the people, who showed their appreciation by sending him continuously to Parliament. Though a churchman himself, he fought against any form of persecution of the dissenters, was without party prejudice, and was remembered more for his practical benefactions than for such theoretical performances as A Scriptural and Rational Account of the Christian Religion (1695). [2]

Family[]

Harley was married twice. On 26 June 1654 he married, Mary, daughter and coheir of Sir William Button of Parkgate, Tawstock, Devon. They had four daughters,[1] one of whom was called Elizabeth.[citation needed] On 25 February 1661 he married Abigail, daughter of Nathaniel Stephens of Eastington, Gloucestershire. They had four sons (one of whom predeceased his father) and one daughter,[1] Abigail.[citation needed] He had two notable sons Robert (later Earl of Oxford) and Edward (1664–1735).

See also[]

List of deserters from James II to William of Orange

Notes[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Helms & Rowlands 1983.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Gilman, Peck & Colby 1905, p. 567.
  3. ^ Noted in the Parliamentarian newsbook Mercurius Civicus, number 63, 1–8 August 1644 (British Library, Thomason Tracts E.4[28])

References[]

  • Helms, M. W.; Rowlands, Edward (1983), "Harley, Edward (1624-1700), of Brampton Bryan, Herefs.", in Henning, B.D. (ed.), The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, Boydell and Brewer

Attribution:

Parliament of England
Preceded by
until 1644
Sir Robert Harley
Member of Parliament for Herefordshire
c. 1646 – Dec. 1648
but excluded Jan. 1647 – June 1648
With: Sir Robert Harley
Succeeded by
vacant
Preceded by



Member of Parliament for Herefordshire
1654–1656
With: James Berry
Bennet Hoskyns
Benjamin Mason
Succeeded by
not represented
Preceded by
Robert Harley
Member of Parliament for Radnor
1661–1679
Succeeded by
Preceded by
The Viscount Scudamore
Sir Herbert Croft, Bt
Member of Parliament for Herefordshire
1679–1685
With: Sir Herbert Croft, Bt
Succeeded by

Sir John Hoskyns, Bt
Preceded by

Sir John Hoskyns, Bt
Member of Parliament for Herefordshire
1689–1690
With:
Succeeded by

Sir Herbert Croft, Bt
Preceded by

Sir Herbert Croft, Bt
Member of Parliament for Herefordshire
1693–1698
With: Sir Herbert Croft, Bt
Succeeded by
Henry Cornewall
Honorary titles
Interregnum Custos Rotulorum of Radnorshire
1660–1685
Succeeded by
Marquess of Worcester
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