John Nash (1590–1661) 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 ...

between 1640 and 1648. He fought on 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 ...

side 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 ...

. Nash was the son or brother of James Nash of

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

. He was a wealthy clothier and alderman and was

Mayor of Worcester The Mayor of Worcester is the civic head of Worcester City Council. Every May one of the city Councillors is elected to serve as Mayor for a year. Another is elected as Deputy Mayor. The Mayor chairs meetings of the Full Council, represents the c ...

in 1633. He was also a Justice of the Peace for the city.W R Williams ''The Parliamentary History of the County of Worcester''
/ref> In April 1640, Nash was elected Member of Parliament for

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 Worcester for 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. During the Civil War, he commanded a troop of horse in the Parliamentary army. He was on the Assessment Committee for Worcestershire in 1644 and was excluded from parliament under

Pride's Purge Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England. Despite defeat in the ...

in 1648. Nash died at the age of 72 and was buried at St Helen's Worcester where there is a monument. He founded the charity known as Nash's Hospital and left charitable legacies for apprentices and for helping young men set up businesses.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nash, John 1590 births 1661 deaths Members of the Parliament of England for Worcester Roundheads Mayors of places in Worcestershire 17th-century English merchants English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 Businesspeople from Worcester, England