Erasmus Earle (15 September 1590 – 10 September 1667) was an English lawyer and politician, who became sergeant-at-law to

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

Life

He was the only son of Thomas Earle of Sall, Norfolk and his wife Anne Founteyn (spellings vary). He was born at Sall and educated at

Norwich Grammar School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private selective day school in the cathedral close, close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the List of the oldest schools in the ...

. He was admitted a student of

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

on 7 April 1612, and subsequently called to the bar there. Sir Julius Caesar appointed him steward of his manors of East Bradenham and Huntingfield Hall in 1626. He was a bencher of his inn between 1635 and 1641 inclusive, and was reader there in the autumn of 1639. In 1640 he purchased Heydon Hall from Sir Robert Kemp. In 1644 he was appointed with

John Thurloe John Thurloe (June 1616 – 21 February 1668) was an English politician who served as secretary to the council of state in The Protectorate, Protectorate England and spymaster for Oliver Cromwell and held the position of Postmaster General betw ...

secretary to the English Parliamentary commissioners for the treaty of Uxbridge. On 4 January 1647 he was returned to Parliament for the City of Norwich. As a member of 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

Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament describes the members of the Long Parliament who remained in session after Colonel Thomas Pride, on 6 December 1648, commanded his soldiers to Pride's Purge, purge the House of Commons of those Members of Parliament, members ...

, he was no radical, but with the group of conservative lawyers, including Nathaniel Bacon, William Ellis, Nicholas Lechmere, Lislibone Long, and William Stephens.Blair Worden, ''The Rump Parliament 1648-1653'' (1974) p. 65 and p. 109. On 12 October 1648 he was called to the degree of serjeant-at-law. The same year he was appointed steward, and the following year recorder of the city of Norwich. The latter office he held until 1653. The only public act of importance which marked his tenure of this office was the trial (for which he received a special commission) of some rioters in the streets of Norwich, showing their disgust at the suspension of the mayor by the parliament and their sympathy with the royalist cause. On Christmas Day 1648 Earle passed sentence of death on several of the ringleaders.

, on assuming the protectorate (16 December 1653), appointed Earle one of the counsel to the state, an office which he also held under

Richard Cromwell Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who served as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1658 to 1659. He was the son of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell. Following his father ...

, but he did not figure in any of the state trials of the period. On the Restoration of 1660 he was again called to the degree of serjeant-at-law (22 June 1660) (Siderfin's Reports, 3). His name does not appear much in the reports, but he amassed by his practice a considerable fortune, and founded the county family of Earle of Heydon Hall. He died on 7 September 1667, and was buried in the parish church of Heydon, Norfolk.

Family

By his wife, Frances, his first cousin and daughter of James Fountaine of Salle, Norfolk, he had four sons and two daughters:''Darwin Pedigree'', by F. B. Freeman; London; 1984, p. 5.
/ref> * Frances Earle (died 23 September 1618) * John Earle (26 August 1622 – 12 April 1667) * Martin Earle (

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

8 March 1628, executor of his mother's will in 1672) * Thomas Earle (27 April 1624 – 9 August 1659) * Edward Earle (29 August 1631 – 3 October 1697) * Anne Earle (1 May 1634 – 1691)

Erasmus Darwin Erasmus Robert Darwin (12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosophy, natural philosopher, physiology, physiologist, Society for Effecting the ...

was his great-great-grandson, through his daughter Anne who married the barrister William Darwin; hence the Erasmus forename in the Darwin family.

Notes

References

External links

* http://www.lowestoftwitches.com/erasmus_earle.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Earle, Erasmus 1590 births 1667 deaths English barristers English politicians People educated at Norwich School People from Broadland (district) People from Heydon, Norfolk Burials in Norfolk