Sir John Trevor (''c.'' 1637 – 20 May 1717) was a Welsh lawyer and politician. He was Speaker of the English House of Commons from 1685 to 1687 (the

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) and from 1689 to 1695. Trevor also served as

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Head of Civil Justice. As a judge, the Master of ...

from 1685 to 1689 and from 1693 to 1717. His second term as Speaker came to an end when he was expelled from the House of Commons for accepting a substantial bribe. He is the second most recent speaker to be forced out of office, with Michael Martin being the most recent.

Early life

John Trevor was born around 1637 or 1638, the exact date of his birth being unrecorded. His father, also called John Trevor, was the son of Sir

Edward Trevor Sir Edward Trevor (c. 1580–1642) was the founder of the fortunes of the Trevor dynasty, a major family of Denbighshire. He was the son of Robert Trevor and Katherine ap Llewellyn. His first wife was Anne Balle, daughter of Nicholas Balle. Wh ...

; his mother was Margaret Jeffreys, daughter of John Jeffreys and aunt of the celebrated judge. The family lived at

Brynkinalt Brynkinalt Hall ( cy, Neuadd Bryncunallt; or simply Brynkinalt (); also spelled as Brynkinallt or Bryn-kinallt) is a Grade-II* listed private property, built in 1612, near Chirk, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The hall is surrounded by an est ...

in the parish of

Chirk Chirk ( cy, Y Waun) is a town and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south of Wrexham, between it and Oswestry. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the traditional county of Denbighshire, and later Clw ...

in the Welsh county of

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

. Trevor was educated at Ruthin School, and he started his career as a clerk for his relative Arthur Trevor. From there he worked his way up with the help of the patronage of another relative George Jeffreys until he was appointed a

king's counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

by Charles II.

Political and judicial appointments

In 1685 he was appointed to the high offices of

and Speaker of the House of Commons by James II. Being a

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

and a partisan of James II, the accession of William III saw Trevor deprived of his office. In 1690, however, he once again returned to parliament as Speaker. From 1693, he also once again held the judicial office of

. Between 1692 and 1695, he represented Newry in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fran ...

. As Speaker, he was memorable for being severely cross-eyed—the affliction was so confusing to members of the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

that they were frequently uncertain as to which of them had "caught the Speaker's eye", and would try to speak out of turn.

Scandal

He was accused of taking bribes from the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...

and the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, and was investigated by a committee chaired by the Commissioner of Accounts, Paul Foley MP. On 7 March 1695, he was found guilty of accepting a bribe of 1,000 guineas from the City of London Corporation to aid the passage of a

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pla ...

through the house. This was judged to be a " high crime and misdemeanour" and he was expelled from the House of Commons on 16 March 1695, a move which he initially resisted on the ground of ill-health. He was not asked to refund the bribe and retained his judicial position until his death at the age of 79 or 80 on 20 May 1717.

Family

Trevor married Jane Mostyn, the daughter of Sir Roger Mostyn. They are known to have had four children: Edward, Arthur, John and Anne. Trevor's wife predeceased him, dying in August 1704.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 3, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 3937

Notes

References

* (''article of family member'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Trevor, John Speakers of the House of Commons of England Masters of the Rolls Tory MPs (pre-1834) Irish MPs 1692–1693 Irish MPs 1695–1699 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Armagh constituencies Politicians from Denbighshire 17th-century Welsh judges 1630s births 1717 deaths Year of birth uncertain Place of death unknown Members of the Privy Council of Ireland 17th-century English judges Members of the Parliament of England for Bere Alston English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1685–1687 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 18th-century English judges