Ralph Weldon (baptised 1606 – 1676) 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 1654 to 1656. He fought in the

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

army in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. Weldon was the son of Sir Anthony Weldon of

Swanscombe Swanscombe /ˈswɔnzkəm/ is a town in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is 4.4 miles west of Gravesend and 4.8 miles east of Dartford. History Prehistory Bone fragments and to ...

, Kent. He was admitted at

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 24 November 1620. He became a commander in the Parliamentary Army at Taunton, Somerset, and took part in the siege of Bristol in 1645. He gave up his command to become

Governor of Plymouth The Governor of Plymouth was the military Captain or Governor of the Royal Citadel, Plymouth, Fortress of Plymouth. The Governorship was abolished in 1842. The Lieutenant Governorship was vested in the General Officer Commanding Western Distric ...

in 1645. In 1654, Weldon was elected Member of Parliament for

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the H ...

and was re-elected MP for Kent in 1656 for the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first sess ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weldon, Ralph Military personnel from Kent 1606 births 1676 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge People from Swanscombe English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 Parliamentarian military personnel of the English Civil War