Sir Peyton Ventris (November 1645 – 6 April 1691) was an English

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, the first surviving son of Edward Ventris (died 1649) of the manor of Granhams (now Granhams Close),

Great Shelford Great Shelford is a village located approximately to the south of Cambridge, in Cambridgeshire, in eastern England. In 1850 Great Shelford parish contained bisected by the River Cam. The population in 1841 was 803 people. By 2001, this had g ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, although he was born in

Little Wenham Little Wenham is a small village in Suffolk, England. It is part of the civil parish of Wenham Parva – the ancient name for Little Wenham) within Babergh district. Its population is included there. Heritage The village is home to Wenham Cast ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

. Ventris entered

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

, on 4 July 1660, and like his father then moved to 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 ...

on 3 February 1664. He was called to the bar on 2 June 1671, his chambers in

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

being above Middle Temple. He was not a success as a

pleader A special pleader was a historical legal occupation. The practitioner, or "special pleader" in English law specialised in drafting "pleadings", in modern terminology statements of case. History Up to the 19th century, there were many rules, tech ...

and turned to reporting. Ventris produced two volumes of reports which were published in 1696 after his death, they mainly concerned arguments in king's bench and common pleas. Ventris married Margaret Whiting, daughter of Henry, a shipowner of

Coggeshall Coggeshall ( or ) is a town and civil parish in the Braintree district, in Essex, England, between Braintree and Colchester on the Roman road Stane Street and the River Blackwater. In 2001 it had a population of 3,919. It has almost 300 li ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, and of

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

. Ventris moved to Ipswich, and in 1681 he became the

town clerk A clerk (pronounced "clark" /klɑːk/ in British and Australian English) is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in ma ...

and one of three counsels to the corporation. When a new town charter was created in July 1684 he was not named and lost these civic offices. In 1685 Ventris became a justice of the peace for Suffolk in 1685, and in 1687, he inherited extensive properties from his father-in-law. He was elected as a Whig to one of Ipswich's seats in the Convention Parliament in January 1689 following the 1688 revolution. He took the oath as a serjeant-at-law on 2 May 1689, and a few days later the king made him a

justice of common pleas Justice of the Common Pleas was a puisne judicial position within the Court of Common Pleas of England and Wales, under the Chief Justice. The Common Pleas was the primary court of common law within England and Wales, dealing with "common" pleas ...

on 4 May 1689. Ventris was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

on 31 October 1689. He was living in parish of St Nicholas

in 1689. After a long illness Ventris died on 6 April 1691 and was buried in the chancel of

St Nicholas' Church, Ipswich St Nicholas' Church, Ipswich is a medieval church in Ipswich. Maintained by the Ipswich Historic Churches Trust, it is currently used by the Diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich as a conference centre and is adjacent to the diocesan offices, and ...

, survived by his wife, his mother, five sons, and a daughter.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ventris, Peyton 1645 births 1691 deaths People from Babergh District Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Ipswich English MPs 1689–1690 Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Justices of the common pleas