Sir Simon Archer (21 September 1581 – before 4 June 1662) was an English

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic sit ...

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 1640.

Life

Archer was the eldest son of Andrew Archer (1554–1629) of

Umberslade Hall Umberslade Hall is a 17th-century mansion converted into residential apartments situated in Nuthurst near Tanworth-in-Arden, Warwickshire. It is a Grade II* listed building. The Archer family were granted the manor of Umberslade by Henry II i ...

, near

Tanworth in Arden Tanworth-in-Arden (; often abbreviated to Tanworth) is a village and civil parish in the county of Warwickshire, England. It is south-southeast of Birmingham, north-east of Redditch and 8 miles (13 km) south-southwest of Solihull and is admin ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

. His arms are blazoned: ''Azure three arrows or.''Landed Families of Britain and Ireland: Archer of Umberslade and Hale, Barons Archer
accessed 28 November 2016. Like his father, he expanded the family estate. He was knighted on 21 August 1624 at Warwick Castle. In 1626, Archer was appointed

High Sheriff of Warwickshire This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of the English county of Warwickshire. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most ...

and, in April 1640, elected as Member of Parliament for Tamworth 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 ...

. He remained neutral 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 ...

in 1642, but two of his sons fought on the Parliamentary side. From 1644 he himself served on the parliamentarian subcommittee for accounts in Warwickshire, which served as a curb on the more militant members of the county committee. In the 1650s, he was active as a justice of the peace in local government, and (unusually) retained this office after the Restoration, until his death. In 1654, he purchased the Jury Street House in Warwick as his town residence. In 1694, it was the 0.5 metre thick stone walls of Jury Street House that prevented the

Great Fire of Warwick The Great Fire of Warwick was a major conflagration that swept through the small town of Warwick, England, beginning at 2:00 p.m. on 5 September 1694 and lasting for six hours. The fire started from a stray spark from the blacksmith located ...

, which destroyed the town's centre, from progressing down Jury Street to the

half-timbered Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

houses beyond. In the 18th century the town centre was rebuilt in Georgian style, and his descendants constructed the Georgian frontage that Jury Street House has retained to the present, originally with the family coat of arms at the apex. His main claim to fame was as an antiquary, starting work on the history of his native county in the 1630s.

William Dugdale Sir William Dugdale (12 September 1605 – 10 February 1686) was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject. Life Dugdale was born at Shustoke, near Colesh ...

was initially his assistant, but when Archer became more involved in public affairs, Dugdale took over the lead, resulting in the publication in 1656 of Dugdale's ''Antiquities of Warwickshire'', with an acknowledgement to Archer's work in the dedication. Archer had a significant collection of manuscripts that survive in the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the Warwickshire Record Office, and the Bodleian Library. He married Anne, daughter of Sir John Ferrers of

Tamworth Castle Tamworth Castle, a Grade I listed building, is a Norman castle overlooking the mouth of the River Anker into the Tame in the town of Tamworth in Staffordshire, England. Before boundary changes in 1889, however, the castle was within the edge of ...

. He was succeeded at Umberslade Hall by his second son,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

. His great-grandson, also named

, was created Baron Archer in 1747.'Parishes: Tanworth', ''Victoria County History, Warwickshire 5: Kington hundred'' (1949), pp. 165–175

Accessed 8 November 2008.

References

;Attribution * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Simon 1581 births 1662 deaths People from Tanworth-in-Arden English MPs 1640 (April) English justices of the peace Knights Bachelor High sheriffs of Warwickshire 17th-century English antiquarians Sheriffs of Warwickshire