Sir Nicholas Martyn (12 April 1593 – 25 March 1653) 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 ...

from 1646 to 1648.

Biography

Martyn was the son of Sir William Martyn and his wife Susan Prestwood, of Exeter. He was educated at Broadgates Hall, Oxford matriculating on 8 March 1611, at the age of 17. He became a student of the

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 1613. He was knighted by King James I at his Court at Newmarket on 12 February 1624. He was landowner of Oxton and Kenton and in November 1639 he became

High Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Kings's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative f ...

.William George Willis Watson ''The house of Martin''
/ref> In 1641, in a year of plots and treasons, Martyn was proclaimed a traitor by the king, and he was excepted from the offer of a general pardon together with Sir George Chudleigh, Sir John Northcote, and Sir Samuel Rolle. He was included in an order clearing proclaimed persons issued on 7 December 1642. In June 1646, he was elected Member of Parliament for

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

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 ...

. He was added to the committee of militia for Devon in 1648 and was excluded 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 ...

at the end of the year. Martyn died at

Nether Exe Nether Exe or Netherexe is a very small village and civil parish in Devon, England. It lies near the River Exe, as its name suggests, about north of Exeter. The Church of St John the Baptist is a small stone church set amidst fields close to th ...

at the age of 59. It is said that before he died, as he lay sick at his house, one of the bells of the church began to toll of its own accord and continued for about a quarter of an hour until the time of his death. A monument was erected in Kenton church. Martyn married Elizabeth Symes, of Pounsford, Somerset. His daughter, who married a wollen draper of Watling Street in the city, provided sanctuary for the five members that King Charles tried to arrest in the House of Commons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martyn, Nicholas 1593 births 1653 deaths English MPs 1640–1648 Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple High sheriffs of Devon Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Devon