Sir Nicholas Overbury (1551 – May 1643) was an English lawyer, landowner and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. ...

from 1604 to 1611. Overbury was the son of Thomas Overbury. He was called to the bar at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

and was chosen Autumn Reader in 1600. He was

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of Gloucester from 15 April 1603 until he resigned in 1626. In 1604, he was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

. He was appointed Steward of Chipping Campden by its charter of 13 June 1605. He was elected a Bencher of his Inn and became Treasurer on 27 April 1610. On 8 December 1610 he became Chief Justice of the Great Sessions for Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire, and Pembrokeshire, remaining until 1637. He was one of the Council of the Marches of Wales on 9 February 1621 and was Knighted on 22 August 1621. He was lord of the manor of Bourton, which he obtained from Lord Wentworth, and was of Ashton sub Edge W R Williams ''Parliamentary History of the County of Gloucester''
/ref> Overbury died at the age of about 91 and was buried on 31 May 1643. Overbury married Mary Palmer, daughter of Giles Palmer of Ilmington and Compton Sarpion, Warwickshire. His eldest son was Sir

Thomas Overbury Sir Thomas Overbury (baptized 1581 – 14 September 1613) was an English poet and essayist, also known for being the victim of a murder which led to a scandalous trial. His poem ''A Wife'' (also referred to as ''The Wife''), which depicted the ...

, who was poisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

in 1613. A daughter, Margaret Overbury married Edmund Lechmere of

Hanley Castle Hanley Castle is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, between the towns of Malvern and Upton upon Severn and a short distance from the River Severn. It lies in the administrative area of Malvern Hills District, and is part of ...

(d. 1650) in 1610.''HMC 5th Report: Lechmere'' (London, 1876), p. 299.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Overbury, Nicholas 1551 births 1643 deaths English MPs 1604–1611 English lawyers English landowners Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Gloucester 17th-century English lawyers