Robert Scawen (c. May 1602–1670) 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 ...

at various times between 1640 and 1670. He supported 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 ...

cause 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 ...

. Scawen was the second son of Robert Scawen of Molinick, St. Germans, Cornwall and his wife Isabel Nicholl, daughter of Humphrey Nicoll of Penvose,

St Tudy St Tudy () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north Cornwall, England. The village is situated in the River Camel valley approximately five miles northeast of Wadebridge. History The village is mentioned as having a cat ...

, Cornwall.Visitation of the County of Cornwall in 1620
/ref> He was baptised on 16 May 1602. He became an attorney in London and was receiver-general for Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire from 1638 to 1649 on a life patent in succession to

John Pym John Pym (20 May 1584 – 8 December 1643) was an English politician and administrator who played a major role in establishing what would become the modern Westminster system, English Parliamentary system. One of the Five Members whose attempte ...

. He became secretary to the

Earl of Northumberland The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy (''alias'' Perci), who were the most po ...

in 1639 and learned the basics of military administration during the

Bishops' Wars The Bishops' Wars were two separate conflicts fought in 1639 and 1640 between Scotland and England, with Scottish Royalists allied to England. They were the first of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which also include the First and Second En ...

. History of Parliament Online - Robert Scawen
/ref> In November 1640, Scawen was elected Member of Parliament for

Berwick upon Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

for the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

and survived Pride's Purge to retain his seat after 1648. Unlike his brother

William Scawen William Scawen (1600–1689) was one of the pioneers in the revival of the Cornish language. He was a politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640 and fought for the Royalist cause in the English Civil War. Life Scawen was the son of Rob ...

he supported to the Parliamentary cause in the Civil War in adherence to the Earl of Northumberland. He was commissioner for new model ordnance in Middlesex in 1645 and chairman of the army committee from 1645 to 1648. In 1647, he was commissioner for sewers for Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, was commissioner for assessment for Westminster in 1648 and commissioner for assessment for Middlesex in 1648 and 1649. In 1648 he was also commissioner for militia for Northumberland. He was a J.P. for Middlesex from 1649 to 1652. In 1658 he bought the manor of

Horton, Buckinghamshire Horton is a hamlet in the parish of Ivinghoe, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Slapton. The name '' Horton'' is a common one in England. It derives from Old English ''horu'' 'dirt' and ''tūn'' 'settlement, farm, es ...

. In 1659, Scawen was elected MP for

Grampound Grampound () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Grampound with Creed, in the Cornwall (district), Cornwall district, in the ceremonial county of Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and ...

in the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a po ...

. He was commissioner for management of revenue from 1659 to May 1660. In March 1660 he was commissioner for militia for Buckinghamshire and in May 1660 he resumed his post as Receiver-general for Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire. He was commissioner for disbandment from September 1660 to 1661, and commissioner for excise appeals from October 1660 until his death. On 3 March 1662, Scawen was elected MP for

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. The name refers to the town's position by the confluence of the River Cocker into the River Derwent. At the 2021 census, the built u ...

in the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. With the exception of the Long Parliament, it was the longest-lasting English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring ...

and in 1663 became a member of the Society of Mineral and Battery Works. He was commissioner for assessment for Cornwall, Cumberland and Buckinghamshire from 1663 to 1669. In 1664 he became joint receiver of the

hearth tax A hearth tax was a property tax in certain countries during the medieval and early modern period, levied on each hearth, thus by proxy on wealth. It was calculated based on the number of hearths, or fireplaces, within a municipal area and is con ...

for Cornwall until 1666. In 1665 he became commissioner for revenue wagons until 1667 and commissioner for assessment for Middlesex until 1669. Scawen married Catherine Alsopp, daughter of Cavendish Alsopp, merchant, of London and had seven sons and two daughters. Two of his sons,

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and Thomas, were both to be MPs and

Governors of the Bank of England The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent choosing and mentoring a successor. The governor ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scawen, Robert 1602 births 1670 deaths People from St Germans, Cornwall Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall Roundheads English lawyers People from Berwick-upon-Tweed People from Cockermouth 17th-century English lawyers English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1648–1653 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1661–1679 Commissioners for sewers