Roger Downes (died 1638) was an English lawyer and 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 ...

in 1601 and from 1621 to 1622. Wardley Hall

Downes was the son Roger Downes of Shrigley, Cheshire. He was a student of

Staple Inn Staple Inn is a part-Tudor period, Tudor building on the south side of High Holborn street in the City of London, London, England. Located near Chancery Lane tube station, it is used as the London venue for meetings of the Institute and Faculty ...

and then of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1589 and was

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 ...

in 1599. In 1601, he was elected member of parliament for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

. At about this time, he acquired

Wardley Hall Wardley Hall is an early medieval manor house and a Grade I listed building in the Wardley area of Worsley, Salford, in Greater Manchester (historically within Lancashire). There has been a moat on the site since at least 1292. The current hall ...

, a moated manor house with a private chapel and 20 bedrooms. He was summer reader for Gray's Inn in 1615. In 1621, he was elected MP for Wigan again. He was dean of the chapel of Gray's Inn in 1624. In 1625, he was vice-chamberlain of Cheshire. He was treasurer of Gray's Inn in 1628. Downes died in 1638 and was buried in Wigan on 6 July. Downes' first marriage was to Elizabeth Gerard, daughter of Miles Gerard of Ince, and took place in Wigan on 23 April 1601. She gave birth to a son, but he died in 1602. Downes' second marriage was to Anne Calvert, daughter of John Calvert of Cockeram. She bore two sons and one daughter. Anne was a Catholic, and their second son,

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, who was also MP for Wigan, later converted.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downes, Roger Year of birth missing 1638 deaths Members of Gray's Inn English MPs 1601 English MPs 1621–1622