Richard Lewknor (bapt. 14 March 1541–6 April 1616) of Downeley, West Dean,

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, was an English politician.

Family

Lewknor was the son of Edmund Lewknor of Tangmere, Sussex and Jane Tirell. He was the brother of Thomas Lewknor. He was baptised on 14 March 1542. He was educated 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 entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

and there

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Career

Lewknor was made a

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

in 1581 and sergeant-at-law in 1594. He was appointed Recorder of Chichester from 1588 to 1590 and a judge on the Chester circuit in 1589, where he was promoted to be

Chief Justice of Chester The Justice of Chester was the chief judicial authority for the county palatine of Chester, from the establishment of the county until the abolition of the Great Sessions in Wales and the palatine judicature in 1830. Within the County Palatine ( ...

in 1603, a position he held until his death. As a judge he was impartial although a staunch Catholic, even sentencing four Catholic priests to death. He also held a number of public commissions during his career and was knighted in 1600. Lewknor was elected

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

(MP) of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

for

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

in 1572, 1584, 1586, 1589, 1593 and 1597. In Parliament he sat on a number of committees. Lewknor moved to Wales after his appointment as Chief Justice of Chester and effectively ran the country for some time between the death in 1601 of

Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, KG, KB (19 January 1601) was an English peer and politician. He was the nephew of Katherine Parr and brother-in-law of Lady Jane Grey through his first wife. During Elizabeth's reign, he held administr ...

, the Lord President of Wales and the arrival of the new Lord President, Lord Zouch, in 1602.

Private life

Lewknor married twice. His first wife is unknown, but his second wife was Margaret Atkins, daughter of Thomas Atkins. From his first marriage, he had two sons. He died on 6 April 1616. In 1589, Lewknor bought the manor of West Dean, which was left to his grandson Richard Lewknor at his death in 1616.''West Dean'', A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 4: The Rape of Chichester (1953), pp. 97-101. Date accessed: 18 January 2011.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewknor, Richard 1541 births 1616 deaths People from West Dean, West Sussex Members of the Middle Temple 16th-century English judges Knights Bachelor English MPs 1572–1583 English MPs 1584–1585 English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1589 English MPs 1593 English MPs 1597–1598 17th-century English judges