Sir Christopher Calthorpe KB (c. 1645 – 7 February 1718) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Early life and education

Calthorpe was born into a rich

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

family which had held manorial property in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

since 1376 and had first represented the county in Parliament under Henry VI. His father was a

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

sympathiser in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

and had held local office under the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

. His mother, Catherine, was the daughter of Sir Edward Lewkenor of Denham. Calthorpe was educated at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

, followed by

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 ...

in 1660. He was invested as a Knight of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

on 23 April 1661.''Le Neve’s Knights'' (Harl. Soc. viii), 10; ''East Anglian Misc.'' (1916), 10, 12.

Political career

Calthorpe joined the Norfolk

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

political faction headed by

Robert Paston, 1st Earl of Yarmouth Robert Paston, 1st Earl of Yarmouth, FRS (29 May 1631 – 8 March 1683) was an English scientist and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1660 and 1673 when he was created Viscount Yarmouth. He was created Earl of Yarmouth in 167 ...

, which secured his election to 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 ...

in February 1679, representing

. However, the legitimacy of his election was challenged by his political rivals, and a by-election was held in May the same year. It was won by the Whig candidate,

Sir John Hobart, 3rd Baronet Sir John Hobart, 3rd Baronet (20 March 1628 – 22 August 1683) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1683. Hobart was the son of Sir Miles Hobart (son of Sir Henry Hobart, ...

. In 1688, Calthorpe bluntly declared that he could not give his assent to the repeal of the

Test Act The Test Acts were a series of penal laws originating in Restoration England, passed by the Parliament of England, that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Catholics and nonconformist Prote ...

and

Penal Laws Penal law refers to criminal law. It may also refer to: * Penal law (British), laws to uphold the establishment of the Church of England against Catholicism * Penal laws (Ireland) In Ireland, the penal laws () were a series of Disabilities (C ...

, and he was removed from local office as a Justice of the Peace. A non-juror after the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

, he was disarmed in September 1689 at the behest of his rival, Sir Henry Hobart, and in the following summer he was placed in confinement as a person ‘suspected to be dangerous to the peace of the kingdom’. Hobart again had him arrested after the

Jacobite assassination plot 1696 George Barclay (Jacobite), George Barclay led an unsuccessful attempt to ambush and kill William III of England, William III and II of England, Scotland and Ireland in early 1696. Background One of a series of plots by Jacobitism, Jacobites to ...

. He died in 1718.

Personal life

He married Dorothy, the youngest daughter of

Sir William Spring, 1st Baronet Sir William Spring, 1st Baronet (13 March 1613 – 17 December 1654) was an English landowner and politician. During the English Civil War, he was one of the leading Parliamentarian officials in East Anglia. He was the Member of Parliament for ...

, in 1664, with whom he had five sons and nine daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calthorpe, Christopher 1640s births 1718 deaths English MPs 1679 Knights of the Bath Members of the Parliament of England for Norfolk