Thomas Bampfield or Bampfylde (c. 1623 – 8 October 1693) 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 ...

lawyer, and

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 o ...

for Exeter between 1654 and 1660. For a short period in 1659, he was

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

in the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a po ...

. He served in the 1660 Convention Parliament that agreed The Restoration settlement, but other than a brief period in 1688, retired from active politics in 1661. A devout

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

who was later converted to

Sabbatarianism Sabbatarianism advocates the observation of the Sabbath in Christianity, in keeping with the Ten Commandments. The observance of Sunday as a day of worship and rest is a form of first-day Sabbatarianism, a view which was historically heralded ...

by his older brother Francis Bampfield, he published a number of religious works. He died in October 1693.

Personal details

Thomas Bampfield was the eighth son of

John Bampfield John Bampfield (c. 1586 – c. 1657)Venning & Hunneyball of Poltimore and North Molton, Devon, England, was a Member of Parliament for Tiverton in Devon (1621) and for the prestigious county seat of Devon (1628-9). Origins He was the eldest so ...

of Poltimore and his wife Elizabeth, members of the

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

gentry. Like most of their contemporaries, he and his brothers supported Parliament during the 1638 to 1651

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 B ...

, although there is no record of his military service. His elder brother Sir John Bampfylde, MP for Penryn until his death in 1650, was one of those excluded by

Pride's Purge Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England. Despite defeat in the ...

in December 1648. Another, Francis Bampfield (1615-1683), was a

Seventh Day Baptist Seventh Day Baptists are Baptists who observe the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as a holy day to God. They adopt a covenant Baptist theology, based on the concept of regenerated society, conscious baptism of believers by immers ...

, who spent nine years in prison for his religious convictions.

Career

Bampfield attended

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

, followed by legal training at

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 ...

in 1642, although the

First English Civil War The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They include the Bishops' Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Second English Civil War, the Anglo ...

meant he did not qualify as a lawyer until 1649. In 1654, he was appointed Recorder of Exeter; combined with his

Presbyterianism Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

, holding this important legal position led to his election as

for Exeter in the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the Ho ...

. It is not clear whether he attended; like many others, he refused to accept

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

's insistence all MPs 'recognise' constitutional limits set out in the ''Instrument of Government''. In 1656, he was re-elected to the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in ...

, and chaired the Parliamentary committee that tried the Quaker activist

James Nayler James Nayler (or Naylor; 1618–1660) was an English Quaker leader. He was among the members of the Valiant Sixty, a group of early Quaker preachers and missionaries. In 1656, Nayler achieved national notoriety when he re-enacted Christ's Palm ...

. He was also a prominent opponent of the 1657 Militia Bill, which sought to enshrine the much hated Rule of the Major Generals. In the

, he acted as Speaker from 14 April 1659 until it was dissolved on 22 April; he supported the re-seating of MPs excluded in Pride's Purge, and sat in the Convention Parliament that invited Charles II to resume the throne.

After The Restoration, he helped draft a petition recommending clemency for the republicans

John Lambert John Lambert may refer to: *John Lambert (martyr) (died 1538), English Protestant martyred during the reign of Henry VIII *John Lambert (general) (1619–1684), Parliamentary general in the English Civil War * John Lambert of Creg Clare (''fl.'' c. ...

and Sir Henry Vane, as well as urging Charles to "marry a Protestant'. His opposition to the restoration of

Episcopacy A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

, and support for

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

regulations prohibiting drunkenness and profanity were out of step with the public mood. He lost his position as Recorder in October 1660, and did not stand again for election as an MP. His brother Francis, a former Royalist and

Prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of th ...

of Exeter Cathedral, rejected his conservative religious beliefs and became an advocate of

. Bampfield opposed the 1662 Act of Uniformity which evicted priests who refused to subscribe to the

Thirty-nine Articles The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...

; they included Francis, who spent the next nine years in Dorchester gaol. Thomas was later converted to Sabbatarianism by Francis, who set up a community of Seventh Day Baptists in prison. Removed as a JP in 1665, Thomas regained some of his former positions in 1688, as the Catholic James II tried to build support among Nonconformists but relinquished them after the 1688 Glorious Revolution. In his last years, he published several works on Sabbatarianism, which elicited responses from mathematician and theologian John Wallis, as well as Baptist minister Isaac Marlow. He died on 8 October 1693, and was buried at St Stephen's Church, Exeter.

Published works

* "An Enquiry Whether the Lord Jesus Christ made the World, and be Jehovah, and gave the Moral Law? And Whether the Fourth Command be Repealed or Altered?" * "A reply to Doctor Wallis"

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bampfield, Thomas Speakers of the House of Commons of England Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Exeter 1623 births 1693 deaths Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford 17th-century English lawyers English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 English justices of the peace