Alexander Bence (born ca. 1590) was an English merchant and politician who sat in the

House of Commons of England The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England (which Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, incorporated Wales) from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was re ...

from 1640 to 1648 and in 1654. He supported the Parliamentarian side in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

Biography

Bence was the son of Alexander Bence and his wife Marie Squier daughter of Thomas Squier. John Burke. ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great ..., Volume 3''"> John Burke. ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great ..., Volume 3''
/ref> In November 1640, Bence was elected Member of Parliament for

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the English county, county of Suffolk, England, north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the comp ...

in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

and sat until he was excluded under

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 1642 he was appointed by parliament as one of the Commissioners for the Affairs of (His Majesty's) Navy, the King having prevented all his principal officers of the navy from performing their duties. Bence was a member of the

Worshipful Company of Grocers The Worshipful Company of Grocers is one of the 111 livery companies of the City of London, ranking second in order of precedence. Established in 1345 for merchants engaged in the grocery trade, it is one of the Great Twelve City Livery Compa ...

in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

and became an Alderman for

Walbrook Walbrook is a Ward of the City of London and a minor street in its vicinity. The ward is named after a River Walbrook, river of the same name. The ward of Walbrook contains two of the City's most notable landmarks: the Bank of England and the ...

ward in May, 1653.''Chronological list of aldermen: 1651–1700'', The Aldermen of the City of London: Temp. Henry III – 1912 (1908), pp. 75–119. Date accessed: 13 January 2011
/ref> In 1654 he was elected MP for

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

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 H ...

. He was master of

Trinity House The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond, also known as Trinity House (and formally as The Master, Wardens and Assistants of the Guild Fraternity or Brotherhood of the most glorious and undivided Trinity and of St Clement in the ...

from 1659 to 1660. Bence married as his first wife Anne Aylett of

Rendham Rendham is a village and civil parish on the B1119 road, in the East Suffolk district, in the English county of Suffolk. It is near the town Saxmundham and the village Sweffling. Etymology Rendham comes from Old English and Saxon. Rend is the ...

Suffolk and his son by her, John Bence was later also MP for Aldeburgh.Basil Duke Henning ''The House of Commons, 1660–1690''
/ref> Bence's brother Squire Bence was also MP for Aldeburgh during the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bence, Squire 1590s births Year of death unknown Members of Trinity House English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1654–1655 People from Aldeburgh 17th-century English businesspeople