Sir John Knight (24 November 1613 – 16 December 1683) was an English merchant 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 ...

from 1660 to 1681. When mayor of Bristol he became notorious for his activities against Nonconformists.

Life

Knight was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

the third son of George Knight, a provision merchant of Bristol and his wife and his wife Anne Dyos, daughter of William Dyos. He inherited his father's business in Temple Street, and became one of the most prosperous merchants in the city, and a prominent

High Church A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

member of the common council. In 1660, Knight was elected Member of Parliament for

in the Convention Parliament and was re-elected in 1661 for the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. With the exception of the Long Parliament, it was the longest-lasting English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring ...

.History of Parliament Online - Knight, John
/ref> He was knighted on the visit of the King to Bristol on 5 September 1663. He was an alderman from 1662 to 1682, and served as the mayor of Bristol 1663-4; his tenure of office was distinguished by his opposition to

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

s and other religious minorities. He had their houses watched, and took measures with Guy Carleton,

bishop of Bristol The Bishop of Bristol heads the Church of England Diocese of Bristol in the Province of Canterbury, in England. The present diocese covers parts of the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire together with a small area of Wiltshire. The see ...

, for their punishment. Moderates were scandalised by the mayor's rushing out of church for his Sunday recreation of hunting down Quakers, Nonconformists and Catholics. In his time as mayor over 920 people were fined for indulging in liberty of conscience. His intolerance increased over time and in 1669 he denounced the other members of the common council, including his namesake, John Knight who was mayor of Bristol in the following year, as fanatics. Knight took a prominent part in the reception of Queen

Catherine of Braganza Catherine of Braganza (; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to Charles II of England, King Charles II, which la ...

in 1677. He was re-elected MP for Bristol in the two elections in 1679 to the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and Second Exclusion Parliaments and lost his seat in 1681. In 1680, because of poor health, he resigned from the common council. In August 1680 he acted as emissary from William Bedloe, the false witness of the

Popish Plot The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy invented by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinat ...

to Chief Justice North. In 1681 he was fined for an assault, and for calling several members of the common council "papists, popish dogs, jesuits, and popish devils". Knight's grave in

Chawton Chawton is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. The village lies within the South Downs National Park and is famous as the home of Jane Austen for the last eight years of her life. History Chawton's r ...

is thought to be by William Bird of Oxford. Knight married Martha Cole, daughter of Thomas Cole. His cousin's son, also Sir John Knight was also MP for Bristol.Williams gives Martha Cole as his mother Anne Smith, daughter of Thomas Smith of Long Ashton Somerset as his wife and Sir John Knight (died 1718) as his son.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, John 1613 births 1683 deaths High sheriffs of Bristol Mayors of Bristol Businesspeople from Bristol 17th-century English merchants English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 People from Chawton