Sir Edward Rodney (29 June 1590 – 1657) was an English 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 ...

at various times between 1621 and 1642.

History

Rodney was the son of Sir John Rodney of

Rodney Stoke Rodney Stoke is a small village and civil parish, located at , 5 miles north-west of Wells, in the English county of Somerset. The village is on the A371 between Draycott and Westbury-sub-Mendip. The parish includes the larger village of Dra ...

, Somerset, and his wife Jane Seymour, daughter of Sir Henry Seymour and niece of

Queen Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (; 24 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, who was ...

. He was educated at Trowbridge Grammar School and at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

. He was then a student at

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 ...

where he "saluted only the law at a distance and mispent his time." In 1611 he accompanied William Seymour overseas after he escaped from the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

to meet his wife

Arbella Stuart Lady Arbella Stuart (also Arabella, or Stewart; 1575 – 25 September 1615) was an English noblewoman who was considered a possible successor to Queen Elizabeth I of England. During the reign of King James VI and I (her first cousin), she marrie ...

. Seymour and Arbella were both in close line to the throne and they married secretly and without the King's consent, resulting in Seymour's imprisonment. Arbella was captured and later died in prison. Rodney returned to England later in 1611 leaving Seymour overseas for another four years.Godfrey Basil Mundy ''The life and correspondence of the late Admiral Lord Rodney''
/ref> Rodney was knighted in May 1614 on the occasion of his marriage to a Lady in waiting to the Queen.

Career

In 1621, Rodney was elected Member of Parliament for Wells. He was re-elected MP for Wells in 1624, 1625 and 1626. In 1628 he was elected MP for

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. He was re-elected MP for Wells in April 1640 for the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on 20 February 1640 and sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640. It was so called because of its short session of only three weeks. After 11 years of per ...

. He was re-elected again for Wells 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 ...

in November 1640, but was disabled from sitting in August 1642 for supporting the King. Rodney commanded a regiment of the Somerset Trained Bands at Wells, which was called out in July 1642 by his fellow Wells MP, Sir Ralph Hopton, acting under the King's Commission of Array. Rodney's regiment took part in a skirmish at Wells in August. After the Parliamentarians overran Somerset following the Siege of

Sherborne Castle Sherborne Castle (sometimes called Sherborne New Castle) is a 16th-century Tudor mansion southeast of Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited ...

in September, Rodney was probably replaced by a Parliamentarian, possibly Col William Strode. However, Rodney appears to have been reinstated following the Royalist victories of 1643 and the regiment took part in the

Battle of Lostwithiel The Battle of Lostwithiel took place over a 13-day period from 21 August to 2 September 1644, around the town of Lostwithiel and along the River Fowey valley in Cornwall during the First English Civil War. A Royalist army led by Charles I of E ...

(August–September 1644) and the subsequent Siege of Taunton (September–December). In March 1645 it formed the garrison of Wells, and it was probably part of the garrison of Bristol when it was besieged and captured (August–September 1645).

Family life

Rodney married

Frances Southwell Frances Southwell (died 1659) was an English courtier. She was a daughter of Robert Southwell (died 1598), Sir Robert Southwell of Woodrising, Norfolk, and Elizabeth Howard, Countess of Carrick, Elizabeth Howard. She was a gentlewoman of the Pri ...

Somerset House Somerset House is a large neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building complex situated on the south side of the Strand, London, Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadran ...

in May 1614. She was the daughter of Sir Robert Southwell of

Woodrising, Norfolk Woodrising is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Cranworth, in the Breckland District, Breckland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. The village of Woodrising is south of Dereham. In 1931 the parish had a population ...

, and his wife Lady Elizabeth Howard. She was a Lady of the Privy Chamber to

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I. She was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Engl ...

. They had thirteen children, and only one son, George, reached his majority although he died aged 22. Their daughter Penelope married Peter Glenne of Norfolk and their daughter Ann married Sir Thomas Brydges of Keynsham. Following the death of his last son, Rodney compiled a history of his family to stand as a reminder for his five surviving daughters and the families into which they married of the significance of the Rodney name. Rodney died at the age of 67 and was buried at the Church of St Leonard, Rodney Stoke, where there is a monument.Wall monument to Sir Edward and Lady Frances Rodney
/ref>

References

External links

Rodney, Sir Edward (1590-1657), of Stoke Rodney, Som.
A biography
Sir Edward Rodney, Knight
Family tree , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodney, Edward 1590 births 1657 deaths Military personnel from Somerset Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Politicians from Wells, Somerset English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 Somerset Militia officers