Matthew Babington of Rothley Temple (17 May 1612 – September 1669) 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 1660.

Early life and education

Matthew was born 17 May 1612, the eldest son of Thomas Babington of

Rothley Temple Rothley Temple, or more correctly Rothley Preceptory, (pronounced ''Rowth-Ley'') was a preceptory (a religious establishment operated by certain orders of monastic knights) in the village of Rothley, Leicestershire, England, associated with bo ...

(1568-1645), Leicestershire and his wife Katherine (c.1585-1657), daughter of George Kendall of Smithesby.History of Parliament Online - Babington, Matthew
/ref> He graduated from

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

at Easter, 1631.

Professional life

He was admitted at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in November 1631 and was called to the bar in 1639. In 1657 he was appointed Justice of the Peace for Leicestershire, a post he continued to hold until his death in 1669. In 1660 he was also appointed a commander for the Militia, as well as Judge to the oyer and terminer court. In 1660, he was elected Member of Parliament for

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

in the Convention Parliament. An inactive Member of the Convention, he made no recorded speeches but was appointed to eight committees, of which the most important were to appoint army commissioners and to enable discharged soldiers to exercise trades in corporate towns. On 8 Dec. he carried the estate bill of George Faunt to the Upper House. He is not known to have stood again, and was buried at Rothley on 27 Sept. 1669. Two years later the King obtained a fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge for his younger son, Matthew, in consideration of Babington’s ‘eminent loyalty ... both to the hazard of his life and impairing his estate’.

Activities during the Civil War

Although his brother was an officer in the

New Model Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 t ...

, and his father was a member of the County Committee, Babington took no known part in the Civil War. In 1653 he asked for and obtained title to the tithes of Gaddesby, part of Rothley rectory, which were detained by a Roman Catholic. But his brother was involved in

Booth's Uprising Booth's Uprising, also known as Booth's Rebellion or the Cheshire Rising of 1659, was an unsuccessful attempt in August 1659 to restore Charles II of England. Centred on North West England and led by George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer, George Booth, ...

in 1659, and he himself was committed to Lambeth House by the Council of State on a charge of levying war against the Parliament and corresponding with the enemy.

Personal life

Babington married c.1634 Anne Hopkins, daughter of

Sampson Hopkins Sampson Hopkins (died 1622) was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1614 and 1622. Hopkins was the son of Sir Richard Hopkins of Coventry. He was a draper of Coventry and a puritan. In 1605 he sheltered Pri ...

of Coventry in 1634. They had four sons and eight daughters.

Death

He died at the age of 57 and was buried at Rothley on 27 September 1669.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babington, Matthew 1612 births 1669 deaths English MPs 1660 17th-century English lawyers Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge People from Rothley Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Parliament of England for Leicestershire

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chinese Elm ''Ulmus parvifolia'' Christianity * Matthew the Apostle, one of ...