James Baker (died October 1689) was an English lawyer 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 ...

in 1659 and 1660. Baker was an attorney and by 1636 was living at

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Salisbury and north-northeast of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hi ...

. In 1637 he became steward of the manorial court of Abbotsbury. He was constable and churchwarden of Shaftesbury St Peter in 1642. During the Civil War he became prominent as a sequestrator of Royalist estates as solicitor and sequestrator for Dorset from 1646 to 1649. He was mayor of Shaftesbury from 1647 to 1648. In 1648 he was commissioner for assessment for Dorset and in 1650 he was commissioner for administering the engagement. He was also captain of the militia cavalry in 1650. He was commissioner for assessment for Dorset again in 1652 and commissioner for security in 1655. From 1656 to 1657 he was mayor of Shaftesbury again. History of Parliament Online - James Baker
/ref> In 1659, Baker was elected member of parliament for

in the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a po ...

. He was lieutenant of militia cavalry in 1659 and was commissioner for assessment for Dorset in January 1660. In April 1660 he was re-elected MP for Shaftesbury in the Convention Parliament and signed the loyal address from Dorset on the Restoration. Baker died and was buried at St. Peter's Shaftesbury on 21 October 1689. Baker was married by 1636 and had three sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, James Year of birth missing 1689 deaths Mayors of Shaftesbury 17th-century English lawyers English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 Roundheads Members of the Parliament of England for Shaftesbury