Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Maynard Colchester (4 March 1665 – 1715), of Westbury Court and the Wilderness, was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the English and

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

from 1701 to 1708. Colchester was the eldest son of Sir Duncombe Colchester of Westbury Court and the Wilderness and his wife Elizabeth Maynard, daughter of Sir John Maynard. He matriculated at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

in 1681 and was 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 ...

in 1682. In 1689, he was called to the bar. He married Jane Clarke (died 1741), daughter of Sir Edward Clarke of St. Peter Cheap and Gutter Lane, London, on 28 January 1690. He succeeded his father in 1694.COLCHESTER, Maynard (1665-1715), of Westbury Court, Westbury-on-Severn, and the Wilderness, Abbinghall, Glos.
History of Parliament. Retrieved 17 June 2018. In 1697 he was

of the Red Regiment of Gloucestershire Militia at

St Briavels St Briavels (pronounced ''Brevels'', once known as 'Ledenia Parva' (Little Lydney)), is a medium-sized village and civil parish in the Royal Forest of Dean in west Gloucestershire, England; close to the England-Wales border, and south of Colefo ...

. Colchester was appointed Commissioner for superstitious lands, Gloucestershire in 1692. He was a member of SPCK in 1699, and was one of the founding members of the

Society of the Propagation of the Gospel United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) is a United Kingdom-based charitable organisation (registered charity no. 234518). It was first incorporated under Royal Charter in 1701 as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Pa ...

in 1701. He was elected Member of Parliament for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

at the second general election of 1701. He was re-elected at the general elections of 1702 and 1705. He did not stand in 1708. He was appointed

verderer Verderers are forestry officials in England who deal with common land in certain former royal hunting areas which are the property of the Crown. The office was developed in the Middle Ages to administer forest law on behalf of the King. Verderers ...

of the Forest of Dean from about 1709 for the rest of his life. In 1710 he became deputy constable of St Briavels Castle, Gloucestershire. Colchester died on 25 June 1715, and was buried at

Westbury, Gloucestershire Westbury-on-Severn is a rural village in England that is the centre of the large, rural civil parish, parish, also called Westbury-on-Severn. Location The village is situated on the A48 road (between Minsterworth and Newnham on Severn) and bo ...

. His tomb was sculpted by Thomas Green of

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.179 His two sons predeceased him and a daughter Jane married Thomas Morgan of Ruperra, Glamorgan. She inherited the estates of her uncle Thomas Clarke.

References

Members of the Parliament of England for Gloucestershire English MPs 1702–1705 1665 births 1715 deaths Gloucestershire Militia officers English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1705–1707 {{18thC-England-MP-stub