Laurence Whitaker (c. 1578 – 15 April 1654) of Turnham Green, Chiswick 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 1624 and 1653.

Early life

Whitaker was born in Somerset, the son of Laurence Whitaker. He matriculated from

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

in around 1593 and was awarded BA in 1597 and MA in 1600. He was incorporated at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in 1603 and admitted at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

on 24 March 1614.

Career

He was secretary to Sir Edward Philips,

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Court of Appeal (England and Wales)#Civil Division, Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ...

. He also held a number of minor public offices, including Clerk of the Petty Bag (1611–1614), and served as a Justice of the Peace for Middlesex. In 1624 he was elected Member of Parliament for

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

. He was re-elected in 1625, 1626 and 1628 and sat until 1629 when

King Charles King Charles may refer to: Kings A number of kings of Albania, Alençon, Anjou, Austria, Bohemia, Croatia, England, France, Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Ireland, Jerusalem, Naples, Navarre, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Sardinia, Scotland, Sicily, S ...

decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. In 1624 he became clerk extraordinary of the Privy Council and held the post until 1641 when he was imprisoned. In November 1640, Whitaker was elected MP for

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 7,313, which was slightly more than the 7,104 recorded at the 2011 census. Th ...

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 ...

, of which he was a

diarist A diary is a writing, written or audiovisual Memorabilia, memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by Calendar date, date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwriti ...

Death

He died at the age of 76 and was buried at

St Giles in the Fields St Giles in the Fields is the Anglican parish church of the St Giles district of London. The parish stands within the London Borough of Camden and forms part of the Diocese of London. The church, named for St Giles the Hermit, began as the c ...

Marriages

He had married twice; firstly Margaret, the daughter of Sir John Egerton and secondly Dorothy, the daughter of Charles Hoskins of Holborn, Middlesex. He had no children and left his Turnham Green house and other assets to his second wife.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitaker, Laurence 1570s births 1654 deaths 17th-century English diarists Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Politicians from Peterborough Members of the Middle Temple Year of birth uncertain Members of the Parliament of England for Okehampton English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640–1648 Politicians from Somerset Secretaries English justices of the peace English prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales