Sir Francis Barnham (1576–1646) 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 1604 and 1646. He supported the

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 ...

cause 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

Barham was the eldest son of Martin Barnham, of London and

Hollingbourne Hollingbourne is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the borough of Maidstone (borough), Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is located on the southward slope of the North Downs to the east of the county town, Maidstone ...

, Kent and his second wife, Judith Calthorpe, daughter of Sir Martin Calthorpe of London, and was a nephew of

Benedict Barnham Benedict Barnham (baptised 1559 – 1598) was a London merchant, alderman and sheriff of London and MP. Life Barnham was born the fourth son of the merchant Francis Barnham (died 1575), a draper, alderman and sheriff of London in 1570, and Ali ...

. He was baptised at Hollingbourne on 20 October 1576. His father was

sheriff of Kent The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (prior to 1974 the office previously known as sheriff)."Sheriffs appointed for a county or Greater London shall be known as high sheriffs, and any reference in any enactment or instru ...

in 1598. Barnham matriculated from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

in 1592, and was admitted at

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

on 8 November 1594. He was knighted in 1603 at

Whitehall Palace The Palace of Whitehall – also spelled White Hall – at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, with the notable exception of Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, ...

on James I's accession shortly after his father. In 1604, he was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for

Grampound Grampound () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Grampound with Creed, in the Cornwall (district), Cornwall district, in the ceremonial county of Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and ...

. In 1613 he inherited from Belknap Rudston, the brother of his father's first wife, the estate of

Boughton Monchelsea Boughton Monchelsea is a village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The civil parish lies on a ragstone ridge situated between the North Downs and the Weald of Kent and has commonly been called Quarry Hills. The ...

. He was elected MP for Grampound in 1614. With his father-in-law,

Sampson Lennard Sampson Lennard ( 1544 – 20 September 1615), of Chevening in Kent, was an English Member of Parliament who represented an unusually large number of different constituencies during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I.N.M.S., 'Lennard ...

, an antiquary of some eminence, he was nominated a member of the

Academy of Literature An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

projected with the approval of the court in 1617, but subsequently abandoned. In 1621 Barnham was elected MP for Maidstone. He was elected MP for Maidstone again in 1626 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. He was

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of the Aylesford Lathe Trained Band at the time of the

First Bishops' War The First Bishops' War was a conflict that took place in Scotland in 1639 between a Scottish political movement known as the Covenanters and forces loyal to King Charles I, who at that time was the king of both Scotland and England. Military acti ...

in 1639.Aylesford Lathe Trained Band at British Civil War Project.
/ref> In April 1640, Barnham was elected MP for Maidstone in 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 MP for Maidstone 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. He supported the parliamentarians during the

First English Civil War The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An estimated 15% to 20% of adult males in England and Wales served in the military at some point b ...

. He died in 1646 as a new writ for Maidstone was issued, to fill a vacancy stated to be caused by Sir Francis's death, but in Sir Roger Twysden's diary he is mentioned in 1649 as urging the release of his eldest son Robert, imprisoned by the Kentish committee. Twysden described him as "a right honest gentleman."

Sir Henry Wotton Sir Henry Wotton (; 30 March 1568 – December 1639) was an English author, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1625. When on a mission to Augsburg in 1604, he famously said "An ambassador is an honest gentleman ...

spoke of him as one of his "chiefest friends" and a man "of singular conversation".

Family

Barnham married Elizabeth Lennard, daughter of Sampson Lennard, of Chevening, Kent, and was the father of fifteen children, of whom the fifth son, William, was mayor of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

in 1652, and died in 1676. His eldest son

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

received a baronetcy in 1663. According to Colket, Meredith B., Jr.'s ''Founders of Early American Families: Emigrants from Europe 1607-1657''. Cleveland: General Court of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, 1975, Thomas Barnham (b.1625) a son of Francis, arrived in Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1655. However, a detailed study performed in 2014 by genealogists on the staff of the College of Arms in London, England concluded that the connection between Thomas and Sir Francis is contrary to the known facts. Thomas Barnham/Barnam/Barnum certainly might have descended from a line of the Barnham family but Sir Francis almost certainly was not his father. However, DNA results presently underway, may prove the connection.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnham, Francis 1576 births 1646 deaths English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1614 English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 Members of the Parliament of England for Grampound Members of Parliament for Maidstone Kent Militia officers People from Hollingbourne People from Boughton Monchelsea