Sampson Lennard (died 20 September 1615), of Chevening in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, was an English

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 ...

who represented an unusually large number of different constituencies during the reigns of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

and James I.N.M.S., 'Lennard, Sampson (c.1544-1615), of Chevening and Knole, Kent; later of Hurstmonceaux, Suss.', in P.W. Hasler (ed.), ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603'' (Boydell & Brewer 1981)
History of Parliament online
A prominent member of the Kent and Sussex gentry, Lennard was

High Sheriff of Kent The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (prior to 1974 the office previously known as sheriff)."Sheriffs appointed for a county or Greater London shall be known as high sheriffs, and any reference in any enactment or instrum ...

in 1590–1. He entered Parliament in 1571 as member for Launceston (Cornwall). He subsequently also represented

Bramber Bramber is a former manor, village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It has a ruined mediaeval castle which was the ''caput'' of a large feudal barony. Bramber is located on the northern edge of the South Downs ...

(1584–5), St Mawes (1586–7),

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

(1589), St Germans (1593),

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...

(1597),

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; kw, Lyskerrys) is a small ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, South West England. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) eas ...

(1601) and Sussex (1614). Lennard married Margaret Fiennes (1541–1612), daughter of

Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre {{Infobox noble , honorific-prefix = The Right Horourable , name = The Lord Dacre , title = Baron Dacre , image = Fiennes,Thomas Baron Dacre.jpg , caption = ''Thomas Fiennes, Baron Dacre'' , alt = , Co ...

, and after her brother's death in 1594 he successfully claimed the barony on her behalf, so that she became the 11th Baroness Dacre. They had seven children, and their younger son, Sir Henry Lennard (1570–1616), succeeded his mother as 12th Baron Dacre.

References

Sources

* J E Neale, ''The Elizabethan House of Commons'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949) Year of birth missing 1615 deaths High Sheriffs of Kent Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall 16th-century births People from Chevening, Kent English MPs 1571 English MPs 1584–1585 English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1589 English MPs 1593 English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 English MPs 1614 {{17thC-England-MP-stub