Sir Samuel Luke (21 March 1603''England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975'' – 30 August 1670) 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 ...

from 1640 to 1653 and in 1660, and was an officer in the Parliamentary army during 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 ...

Life

Luke was born 21 March 1603 and baptised at six days old in

Southill, Bedfordshire Southill is a rural village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England; about south-east of the county town of Bedford. The 2011 census showed the population for the civil parish as 1,192. The ...

. He was the son of Sir Oliver Luke and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Sir Valentine Knightley of Fawsley, Northants. He attended Eton from 1617 to 1619 and travelled abroad in 1623. He was knighted on 20 July 1624. In April 1640, Luke was elected Member of Parliament for

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on 20 February 1640 and sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640. It was so called because of its short session of only three weeks. After 11 years of per ...

and was re-elected 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 ...

in November 1640. In the latter election he is known to have had the support of much of

John Bunyan John Bunyan (; 1628 – 31 August 1688) was an English writer and preacher. He is best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress'', which also became an influential literary model. In addition to ''The Pilgrim' ...

's future congregation. Luke was governor of the Parliamentary outpost in

Newport Pagnell Newport Pagnell is a town and civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The Office for National Statistics records Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes urban area. The town is separated from the rest of the u ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

from late 1642 until June 1644 during the

During the war he was also Scoutmaster to the Earl of Essex. He subscribed to the

Solemn League and Covenant The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians in 1643 during the First English Civil War, a theatre of conflict in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. On 17 August ...

and in 1648 was secluded from the Long Parliament 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 ...

. Luke inherited the family estate on the death of his father in 1651. In April 1660, he was re-elected MP for Bedford in the Convention Parliament. He died in 1670 and was buried on 30 August in Cople,

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

Mention in literature

It is thought that Sir Samuel Luke was the basis for the title character of the satirical heroic poem '' Hudibras'' (1662) by Samuel Butler.

Family

On 2 February 1624, Luke married Elizabeth, daughter of William Freeman, haberdasher and merchant, of London.

Notes

References

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External links

findagrave.com burial record
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Luke, Samuel 1603 births 1670 deaths Knights Bachelor Roundheads People from Southill, Bedfordshire 17th century in Buckinghamshire English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1660 People educated at Eton College People from Cople