Sir Humphrey Lynde (1579–1636) was an English lay

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

controversialist 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 1626.

Life

Lynde was the son of Cuthbert Linde or Lynde of

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

. He was elected a queen's scholar at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

; matriculated 14 January 1597 at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, and graduated B.A. 7 July 1600. In 1601 he became a student at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, and succeeded to a family estate near

Cobham, Surrey Cobham () is a large village in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, centred south-west of London and northeast of Guildford on the River Mole, Surrey, River Mole. It has a commercial/services High Street, a significant number of pr ...

. In 1611, he acquired an estate at Clapham, but in April 1614, he was licensed to alienate 800 acres of his estate to John Hawsley. He moved to a mansion he built on the Thames at Twickenham Meadows, Middlesex, where several of his children were baptized. He was knighted by James I (29 October 1613), made a justice of the peace, and represented

Brecknock Brecon (; ; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the county town of Breck ...

in parliament February–June 1626 after Sir Walter Pye chose to sit instead for Herefordshire. Lynde was a noted anti-Catholic. On 27 June 1623 a prominent debate on the claims of Rome was held at his London house.

Daniel Featley Daniel Featley, also called Fairclough and sometimes called Richard Fairclough/Featley (15 March 158217 April 1645), was an English theologian and controversialist. He fell into difficulties with Parliament due to his loyalty to Charles I of E ...

and Francis White represented the Protestants, and the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

John Percy alias Fisher (1569–1641) and John Sweet argued on behalf of the Catholic views. A report of the debate, ''The Romish Fisher Caught'', 1624, was published by Featley, at the command of Archbishop George Abbot. He was well known to Simon Birckbek, and James Duport notices him in his ''Musæ Subsecivæ''. Lynde died 8 June 1636, and was buried in Cobham parish church, 14 June. The

funeral sermon A Christian funeral sermon is a formal religious oration or address given at a funeral ceremony, or sometimes a short time after, which may combine elements of eulogy with biographical comments and expository preaching. To qualify as a sermon, it sh ...

, preached by his friend Daniel Featley (published 1638), contains a eulogy on his life and character.

Works

In 1623 Lynde published ''An Account of Bertram the Priest, with Observations concerning the Censures upon his Tract, "De Corpore et Sanguine Christi".'' This was intended as an introduction to a tract against

transubstantiation Transubstantiation (; Greek language, Greek: μετουσίωσις ''metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of sacramental bread, bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and ...

Ratramnus Ratramnus (died ) was a Frankish monk of the monastery of Corbie, near Amiens in northern France, and a Carolingian theologian known best for his writings on the Eucharist and predestination. His Eucharistic treatise ''De corpore et sanguine Domin ...

, of which English translations had appeared in 1548 and 1582, and another, by William Guild, came out in 1624. Lynde dedicated his work to Sir Walter Pye, and a copy was sent to

James Ussher James Ussher (or Usher; 4 January 1581 – 21 March 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific Irish scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his ...

by Archbishop Abbot's chaplains Thomas Good and Daniel Featley). Dr. Matthew Brian reprinted Lynde's 'Account' in 1686. Shortly after its first publication a Jesuit challenged Lynde to prove the visibility through all ages of the Protestant church. ''Antient Characters of the Visible Church'', 1625, was his first attempt to meet the challenge, but in 1628 he pursued his argument in ''Via Tuta, the Safe Way … to the True, Ancient, and Catholique Faith now professed in the Church of England''. John Heigham replied at length in ''Via Vere Tuta'' (1631), and John Floyd, writing under the initials 'J. R.,’ followed Heigham's attack with ''A Paire of Spectacles for Sir Humphrey Linde to see his Way withal'', 1631. In 1632 a third reply, ''The Whetstone of Reproof, by T. T., Sacristan and Catholike Romanist'', appeared at

Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...

. Lynde pursued his attacks on the Catholics in ''Via Devia, the Byway leading the Weak into unstable and dangerous Paths of Popish Error'', London, 1630, and in reply to Floyd wrote ''A Case for the Spectacles'', which

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I of England, Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Caroline era#Religion, Charles I's religious re ...

refused to license (on the ground, according to

William Prynne William Prynne (1600 – 24 October 1669), an English lawyer, voluble author, polemicist and political figure, was a prominent Puritan opponent of church policy under William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (1633–1645). His views were Presbyter ...

's ''Canterburies Doome'', that Lynde was a layman); the work was not published in Lynde's lifetime. Lynde also supported a collection made by

Thomas James Thomas James (c. 1573 – August 1629) was an English librarian and Anglican clergyman, the first librarian of the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Life James was born about 1573 at Newport, Isle of Wight. In 1586 he was admitted a scholar of Winc ...

of passages from Protestant writers 'pruned away by the Romish knife.' After Lynde's death Featley prepared for the press Lynde's ''A Case for a Pair of Spectacles'', the reply to Floyd, together with a defence of Lynde by Featley, entitled ''Stricture in Lyndomastigem by Way of Supplement to the Knight's Answer and Featley's Funeral Sermon''. This work was reprinted, with the ''Via Tuta'' and ''Via Devia'', in Blakeney's edition of

Edmund Gibson Edmund Gibson (16696 September 1748) was a British divine who served as Bishop of Lincoln and Bishop of London, jurist, and antiquary. Early life and career He was born in Bampton, Westmorland. In 1686 he was entered a scholar at Queen's ...

's '' Preservative against Popery'', vols. iv. and v., 1849. ''Via Tuta'' was also reissued in 1848, and a French translation of it and of ''Via Devia'' is dated 1645.

Family

He left three sons and six daughters. One, Humphrey Lynde, was a curate of

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

References

*
LYNDE, Sir Humphrey (1579-1636), of Twickenham, Mdx. and Sheer Lane, St. Dunstan-in-the-West, Mdx.; later of Cobham, Surr. and Denham, Bucks.
Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604–1629, ed. Andrew Thrush and John P. Ferris, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynde, Humphrey 1579 births 1636 deaths English MPs 1626 English knights 16th-century Puritans 17th-century English Puritans People from Westminster People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple English legal professionals 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers