Robert Long (died 31 March 1447) of South Wraxall and

Draycot Cerne Draycot Cerne (Draycott) is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sutton Benger, in Wiltshire, England, about north of Chippenham. History The parish was referred to as ''Draicote'' (Medieval Latin) in the ancient D ...

in Wiltshire, was an English lawyer and landowner. He served as a Member of Parliament, mostly as an occasional

knight of the shire Knight of the shire () was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 ...

for

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, and was the founder of the prominent Long family of South Wraxall and Draycott.

Early life

Long was born in

, the son of Thomas Long.Kightly, Charles, “Long, Robert (d. 1447), of South Wraxall, Wilts”, in J. S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe, eds., in ''History of Parliament: House of Commons 1386–1421'' (1993), pp. 551–552 He became a lawyer at the

Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have s ...

in London and in his legal career was greatly assisted by members of the Hungerford family, including Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford, who employed him as an advisor and trustee. A Robert Long was acting as a deputy marshal in the

Court of King's Bench The Court of King's Bench, formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was a court of common law in the English legal system. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century from the '' curia regis'', the King's Bench initi ...

by 1408, and this may have been the same man.

Landholdings

In 1409, Long bought land at Rode, Somerset. He later owned the manors of Draycot and South Wraxall, where he built a large house, South Wraxall Manor. Both of these estates descended in the male line of the Long family for more than four hundred years, with Draycot finally being bequeathed away by Long’s descendant William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, 5th Earl of Mornington, who in 1863 left it in his will to his cousin Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley.

Parliamentary career

In 1414, Long was elected as one of the two members of parliament for Old Sarum, and will have attended Parliament when it met in November. In 1417 he was elected for

Calne Calne () is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). at the northwestern extremity ...

, and the one session of that parliament was from November to December. Thereafter, he was six times a knight of the shire for

, in May 1421, December 1421, October 1423 to February 1424, September 1429 to February 1430, 1433, and January to March 1442. There were many intervening parliaments for which he was not elected. On 4 November 1428 he was appointed Escheator of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

and Wiltshire.

Marriage and children

Long married twice: *Firstly, at some time before 1417, he married Margaret Godfrey, of unrecorded family, by whom he had four sons, including: **

John Long of Draycot Cerne John Long of Draycot Cerne (c. 1419 – 20 September 1478) was an English landowner and member of parliament. Born in Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestersh ...

** Henry Long, MP **Richard Long, MP for Old Sarum in 1442, the year that his father and two brothers were all Members of Parliament for various Wiltshire constituencies. *Secondly, before 1428, he married Margaret Popham (born 1 May 1400), the widow of John Cowdray and of William Wayte of Draycot, Wiltshire, and daughter and eventual heiress of Sir Philip Popham, of Barton Stacey, Hampshire.

Arms

Long’s

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

ed ''Sable semée of cross-crosslets, a lion rampant argent''.Richard Symonds, ''Diary of the Marches of the Royal Army During the Great Civil War; Kept by Richard Symonds: Now First Published from the Original Ms. in the British Museum'' (Camden Society, 1859), p. 118

Sources

*Kightly, Charles
biography of ''Long, Robert (d.1447), of South Wraxall, Wilts.''
published in

History of Parliament The History of Parliament is a project to write a complete history of the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of England. The history will principally consist of a prosopography, in ...

: House of Commons 1386–1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe., 1993

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Robert (politician) 1447 deaths Robert Long (politician) People from Wiltshire English MPs April 1414 English MPs 1417 English MPs May 1421 English MPs December 1421 English MPs 1423 English MPs 1429 English MPs 1433 English MPs 1442 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Old Sarum