Sir Marmaduke Roydon (also Rawdon and Rawden, with Royden a contemporary spelling) (1583 – 28 April 1646) was an English merchant-adventurer and colonial planter, known also as a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

army officer. Marmaduke Roydon Hertocks

Life

The son of Ralph Roydon or Rawdon of Rawden Brandesby in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, by Jane, daughter of John Brice of Stillington, he was baptised at Brandesby on 20 March 1583. At sixteen years of age he went to London, where he was apprenticed to Daniel Hall, a

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

merchant, who sent him as his factor to France. He returned to London about 1610 and was elected a common councilman. Soon afterwards he was presented with the freedom of the Clothworkers' Company, and made captain of the city militia. In 1614 Roydon joined a mercantile venture (with John Buley, George Langam and William Skelton) to the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

coast, sending out two ships under Thomas Hunt and John Smith, which sailed from the Downs on 3 March 1614. He was also interested in the discovery of the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...

. He was an active member of the

Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

and stood against

John Venn John Venn, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA (4 August 1834 – 4 April 1923) was an English mathematician, logician and philosopher noted for introducing Venn diagrams, which are used in l ...

for election as captain-leader of the company in 1631; both were disappointed by the impositon of a candidate favoured by the Crown. Roydon was one of the first planters in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. With two others, he was granted 10,000

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s in Barbados, in April 1628, by

James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle Order of the Bath, KB (c. 1580March 1636) was a Scotland, Scottish courtier and English nobleman. Life He was the son of Sir James Hay of Fingask, second son of Peter Hay 3rd of Megginch Castle, Megginch (a branc ...

. This award set off a sharp struggle between Roydon's followers, and those supporting the claims of

William Courten Sir William Courten or Curteen (1572–1636) was a wealthy 17th century merchant, operating from London. He financed the colonisation of Barbados, but lost his investment and interest in the islands to the Earl of Carlisle. Birth and upbringing ...

. In the end Carlisle's grant was upheld. Roydon, however, is said to have lost £10,000. Roydon also ventured to other parts of the West Indies and to Spain, Turkey and the Canary Islands. In 1622 Roydon built Rawdon House in

Hoddesdon Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River. Hoddesdon ...

. The year 1626 saw him accused of belonging to a cartel trying to monopolise the wine trade of London. In 1628–9 he became MP for

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the English county, county of Suffolk, England, north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the comp ...

. In 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 fought on the king's side, raised a regiment at his own cost, and took part in the defence of Basing House (1643). On 28 December of the same year he was knighted. In 1645 he was made governor of

Faringdon Faringdon is a historic market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, south-west of Oxford, north-west of Wantage and east-north-east of Swindon. Its views extend to the River Thames in the north and the highest ground visib ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, where he died on 28 April 1646.

Family

In 1611, while a clothworker in All Hallows,

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Thorowgood of Hoddesdon,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. Their son Thomas fought as a colonel in the

army, and after the

battle of Marston Moor The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1639–1653. The combined forces of the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester and the Scottish Covenanters unde ...

went into exile in the Canaries. His nephew, the younger

Marmaduke Rawdon Sir Marmaduke Roydon (also Rawdon and Rawden, with Royden a contemporary spelling) (1583 – 28 April 1646) was an English merchant-adventurer and colonial planter, known also as a Cavalier, Royalist army officer. Life The son of Ralph Roydon ...

, lived in his house for some years from 1626. The poet

Martha Moulsworth Martha Moulsworth (10 November 1577), born Martha Dorsett, was an English writer who spent much of her life in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. Her only known literary work, ''Memorandum of Martha Moulsworth, Widow'' (1632), an autobiographical poem, is ...

was Elizabeth's stepmother. Her ''Memorandum of Martha Moulsworth Widdowe'' (1632) is believed to have passed in manuscript to Roydon and then his nephew.Evans, pp. 152–3.

References

*Robert C. Evans, ''A Silent Woman Speaks: "The Memorandum of Martha Moulsworth, Widowe"'', The Yale University Library Gazette Vol. 69, No. 3/4 (April 1995), pp. 149–162. Published by: Yale University, acting through the Yale University Library. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40859118

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Roydon, Marmaduke 1583 births 1646 deaths Honourable Artillery Company officers 17th-century English merchants English MPs 1628–1629 Cavaliers Barbadian planters English expatriates in France