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Bullen Reymes (28 December 1613 – 18 December 1672) was an English courtier, diplomat and politician who sat in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...
from 1660 to 1672. He fought in the
Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
army 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 ...
.


Life

Reymes was the eldest son of Bullen Reymes of Westminster and his wife Mary Petre, daughter of William Petre of Torbryan, Devon. He was educated privately and at
Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...
(BA 1670) and the
Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...
. He travelled abroad, where he was attaché at the Paris embassy from 1631 to 1632 and based in Venice (where he played the lute and 'red in Shakespeares playes') from 1634 to 1635 and 1636 to 1637. He also visited Sicily, met
Artemisia Gentileschi Artemisia Lomi Gentileschi ( ; ; 8 July 1593) was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished 17th century, 17th-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional ...
in Naples and travelled as far as Athens, where he saw 'the beautiful ruins' before the disastrous 1687 explosion in the Parthenon. He was a captain of foot in 1640 and a
Gentleman of the Privy Chamber A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, f ...
from 1641 to 1646.


Civil war

He supported the King in the Civil War, and was colonel of horse in the Royalist army from 1643 to 1646. He was active in defending Exeter and was made a freeman in 1645. The city surrendered in 1646 and he laid down his arms. He was treated leniently by the committee for compounding for Dorset and paid no more than £100. In 1650, he was imprisoned in Taunton Castle and after the
Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1642 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...
helped some Royalists to escape abroad. He succeeded to the heavily mortgaged estates of his father in 1652. History of Parliament Online - Reymes, Bullen
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Later career

In June 1660, Reymes was elected Member of Parliament for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis in a by-election to the Convention Parliament. He resumed his position as gentleman of the privy chamber in the same month. He was servant to the Duke of Gloucester until September 1660, and was commissioner for assessment for Dorset from August 1660 to 1669. In 1661 he was re-elected MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis in the
Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. With the exception of the Long Parliament, it was the longest-lasting English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring ...
, and proved to be a very active member. In the same year he became freeman of Weymouth and Vice Admiral of Dorset until his death. He was commissioner for loyal and indigent officers for Dorset in 1662, and commissioner for assessment for Westminster from 1663 to 1669. At this time he was involved in a feud with the Strangways family over various matters. He was commissioner for sick and wounded in Hampshire and Dorset 1664 to 1667 and was appointed commissioner for Tangier from 1664 until his death. He became a freeman of Portsmouth in 1665 and was deputy treasurer of prizes at Portsmouth from 1665 to 1667. He had become a merchant of sailcloth, and was supplying sailcloth to the navy at the time of the second Dutch war when he had several minor administrative posts. In 1668 he became surveyor of the Great Wardrobe and achieved great savings after the mismanagement of the previous post holder. He was commissioner for sick and wounded for Hampshire and Dorset again from 1671 until his death. he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in 1667. Reymes was friends with the diarists,
Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...
and
John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diary, diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's Diary, ...
, and was a keen theatre-goer and gardener. He is mentioned six times in Pepys’ Diary. For instance, on 24 January 1668, Pepys wrote: "Sat by Colonell Reames, who understands and loves a play as well as I, and I love him for it." In 1672 Reymes was unwell and retired to Dorset where, after a lingering illness, he died in December at the age of 68, and was buried in Portesham church. He was survived by his daughters but only one of his sons, also called Bullen (who died at Waddon after having been mysteriously found wounded in Weymouth in 1695).


Family

Reymes married Elizabeth Gerard, daughter of Thomas Gerard of Trent, Somerset in 1640 and had three sons and two daughters. Elizabeth died at Waddon, in Dorset, in 1661. Reymes remarried. His second wife, Anna, outlived him.The Chafin memorial in the north aisle of St Peter's Church refers to ‘Anna, widow of Bullen Reymes, Knight’ – mentioned in Elwin, Jack, ''Possum Lives: Brief lives of some of the prominent people who have had connections with Portesham'', 2010


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reymes, Bullen 1613 births 1672 deaths Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber Cavaliers English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 Fellows of the Royal Society Diplomats of the Kingdom of England