Thomas Reynell (13 September 1625 – 1698) of East Ogwell, Devon, was an English lawyer 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. T ...

at various times between 1654 and 1689. Reynell was the eldest son of Sir Richard Reynell of East Ogwell, Devon and his wife (and cousin) Mary Reynell, daughter of Richard Reynell of Creedy Widger, near Crediton. He was the elder brother of Sir Richard Reynell, 1st Baronet,

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

. He was educated at

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 ...

in 1640 and entered

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 1641. In 1647 he was J.P. He succeeded to the family estates on the death of his father in 1648. In 1649 he was called to the bar. Reynell was JP for Devon again and was commissioner for assessment for Devon in 1652. He was JP for Devon again in 1653 and remained in post until 1660. In 1654, he was elected

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

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 ...

for 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 ...

. He was re-elected MP for Devon in 1656 for 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 ...

. He was commissioner for assessment in 1657 and commissioner for militia in 1659. In 1659 he was elected MP for Ashburton 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 ...

. Reynell was commissioner for assessment from January 1660 to 1663 and commissioner for militia in March 1660. He did not stand for parliament after the Restoration when he was described as "an arrant Presbyterian and a very dangerous Commonwealthman". He became JP for Devon again in August 1660 until 1676. In 1667 he was commissioner for inquiry into the Newfoundland government. He was commissioner for assessment from 1673 to 1680 and commissioner for recusants for Devon in 1675. From 1677 to 1678 he was

High Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative ...

. He was elected MP for Ashburton again for the two parliaments of 1679 and 1681. In May 1685, he was taken into custody prior to the Duke of Monmouth's invasion. He was JP for Devon again from 1687 until his death. In March 1688 he was commissioner for inquiry into recusancy fines for Devon, Dorset and Cornwall and from May to October 1688 he was Deputy Lieutenant. He was alderman for Totnes from April to October 1688. In 1689 he was elected MP for Ashburton again. In 1690 he stepped aside to allow his brother Richard, who had been temporarily removed from his position on the Irish Bench, to hold the seat. He was commissioner for assessment from 1689 to 1690. Reynell died at the age of 73 and was buried at East Ogwell on 1 March 1698. Reynell married firstly Mary Bennet, daughter of John Bennet of London and had a son and four daughters. He married secondly by licence dated 25 July 1673, Elizabeth Gould, widow of William Vincent, merchant of Exeter, and daughter of James Gould, merchant of London. They had three sons and two daughters. He was succeeded by

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

his eldest son by the second marriage, who was MP for Ashburton between 1702 and 1734.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynell, Thomas 1625 births 1698 deaths Members of the Middle Temple Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford High Sheriffs of Devon Members of the Parliament of England for Ashburton English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1689–1690

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Devon