Robert Packer (12 September 1614 – 25 February 1682) of Shellingford, Berkshire was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

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. ...

in two periods between 1646 and 1679, as well as being Usher of the Exchequer. Packer was the eldest son of the Clerk of the Privy Seal, John Packer of Shellingford Manor in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

(now Oxfordshire) 'Parishes: Shellingford', A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 4 (1924), pp. 475-478 Date accessed: 18 March 2011
/ref> and his wife, Philippa, the daughter of Francis Mills of

Bitterne Bitterne is an eastern suburb and ward of Southampton, England. Bitterne derives its name not from the similarly named bird, the bittern, but probably from the bend in the River Itchen; the Old English words ''byht'' and ''ærn'' together mea ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. He was educated at

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

and succeeded his father in 1649. In 1646, 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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for Wallingford in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

.History of Parliament Online -Packer, Robert
/ref> He was excluded in 1648 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 ...

. In 1660, Packer was elected again as MP for Wallingford in the Convention Parliament. He was re-elected in 1661 for the

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and sat until 1679. Packer married Temperance Stephens daughter of Col. Edward Stephens of Little Sodbury in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, by whom he had at least four children. He inherited Shellingford from his father in 1649 and died on 25 February 1682, at the age of 67, being buried in Shellingford Church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Packer, Robert 1614 births 1682 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford People from Vale of White Horse (district) People from Wallingford, Oxfordshire English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1661–1679