Sir John Glynne KS (1602 – 15 November 1666) was a Welsh lawyer of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

and Restoration periods, who rose to become Lord Chief Justice of the Upper Bench, under Oliver Cromwell. He 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 ...

at various times between 1640 and 1660.

Early life

John Glynne was born at

Glynllifon Glynllifon is an old estate which belonged to the Baron Newborough, Barons Newborough, near the village of Llandwrog on the main A499 road between Pwllheli and Caernarfon in Gwynedd, Wales. The original mansion was until recently a privately own ...

Carnarvonshire Caernarfonshire (; , ), previously spelled Caernarvonshire or Carnarvonshire, was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the north-west of Wales. Geography The county ...

, the second son of Sir William Glynne of Glynllifon, a very ancient family that claimed a fanciful descent from Cilmin Droed-tu, founder of one of the 15 tribes of North Wales, by Jane, the daughter of John Griffith (of Plas Mawr), Caernarvon. His elder brother was

Thomas Glynn Thomas Glynn (died 1648) was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1624 and 1640. He supported the Parliamentary side in the English Civil War. Glynn was the son of Sir William Glynn of Glynllifon and his wife Ja ...

, MP for Caernarvonshire. Glynne was educated 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 ...

and

Hart Hall, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colle ...

, where he matriculated 9 November 1621, aged 18.Alumni Oxonienses He entered

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

on 27 January 1620 and was called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

on 24 June 1628.Jenkins

Career

In April 1640, Glynne was elected Member of Parliament for

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, ...

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 was re-elected MP for Westminster 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. His first major parliamentary triumph was the summing-up of the case against the

Earl of Strafford Earl of Strafford is a title that has been created three times in English and British history. The first creation was in the Peerage of England in January 1640 for Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, the 1st Viscount Wentworth, the clo ...

, and he enjoyed a successful career during the commonwealth, becoming a serjeant-at-law, judge of assize, and finally

Lord Chief Justice The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...

of the Upper Bench, and was a member of the

Committee of Both Kingdoms The Committee of Both Kingdoms (known as the Derby House Committee from late 1647) was a committee set up during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms by the Parliamentarian faction in association with representatives from the Scottish Covenanters, aft ...

. However, his

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

ism put him out of favour with the army, and he was expelled from Parliament in 1647 and imprisoned in the

Tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

for almost a year. He was counsel for the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

from 1647 to 1660. He returned to Parliament for

Caernarvonshire Caernarfonshire (; , ), previously spelled Caernarvonshire or Carnarvonshire, was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the north-west of Wales. Geography The county ...

from 1654 to 1655 in the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the H ...

. In 1656 he was elected MP for both Carnarvonshire and

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

in the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first sess ...

and chose to sit for Flintshire.W R Williams ''The Parliamentary History of the Principality of Wales''
/ref> He was nominated and accepted a seat in

Cromwell's Other House The Other House (also referred to as the Upper House, House of Peers and House of Lords), established by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Humble Petition and Advice, was one of the two chambers of the parliaments that leg ...

. In 1656 he was judge in a criminal case involving

George Fox George Fox (July 1624 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 13 January 1691 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an English Dissenters, English Dissenter, who was a founder of the Quakers, Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as t ...

. After several allegations against Fox failed to stand up, he demanded Fox remove his hat, and on his refusal to do so, ordered him to pay a fine of 20 marks and committed him to prison until he did so. In the later years of the Protectorate, Glynne resigned his legal offices and turned to favour the Restoration. He was returned again for Caernarvonshire in the Convention Parliament, and was knighted on 16 November 1660, and shortly thereafter made Prime Serjeant.

Death and succession

Glynne died at his home in London on 15 November 1666, and was buried on 27 November at St Margaret's Church, Westminster, in his own vault under the altar. He left his estate of

Hawarden Hawarden (; ) is a village and community (Wales), community in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home to Hawarden Castle (medieval), Hawarden Castle. In the 2011 United Kingdom census, ...

(which he had bought in 1654) to his son

Sir William Glynne, 1st Baronet Sir William Glynne, 1st Baronet (20 January 1638 – 8 September 1690) was a Welsh politician. William was the son of Sir John Glynne, the Lord Chief Justice during the Commonwealth. He was educated at Jesus College, Oxford, taking his degree ...

; his estates at Henley-by-Normandy and Pirbright in Surrey descended to his son John by his second marriage.

Family

Glynne married firstly Frances Squib, eldest daughter of Arthur Squib. Glynne purchased Henley Manor,

Normandy, Surrey Normandy is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish of in the borough of Guildford in Surrey, England. Almost surrounded by its hill ranges, Normandy is in the plain west of Guildford, straddles the A323 road (Great Britain), A323 ...

from Squib, whom he assisted through his influence to the positions of Clarenceux Herald and Teller of the Exchequer. They had the following children, 2 sons & 5 daughters: *

*Thomas, unmarried, s.p. *Frances, died an infant *Jane, wife of Sir Robert Williams, Bt., of Penrhyn, Carnarvonshire, nephew & heir of John, Archbishop of York & Lord-Keeper of the

Great Seal of England The Great Seal of the Realm is a seal that is used in the United Kingdom to symbolise the sovereign's approval of state documents. It is also known as the Great Seal of the United Kingdom (known prior to the Treaty of Union of 1707 as the Gre ...

*Margaret, died an infant *Anne, wife of Sir John Evelyn, Bt., of Lee Place, Godstone, Surrey *Frances, wife of William Campion (1639–1702) of Combwell, Goudhurst, Kent, eldest son of Sir William Campion (d. 1648, siege of Colchester) of Danny Park, Hurstpierpoint, Sussex, and Grace, eldest da. of Sir Thomas Parker of Ratton in Willingdon. He married secondly Anne Manning, daughter. & co-heiress of John Manning of London & Cralle, Sussex, widow of Sir Thomas Lawley, Bt., of Cornwall. They had the following children: *John Glynne, of Henley Park, Surrey, who m. Dorothy, da. of Francis Tylney of Tylney Hall, Rotherwick, Hants. They had 2 daughters, Elizabeth, who died unmarried and Dorothy, who married Sir Richard Child, Bt., later 1st Earl Tylney. John was educated at Hart Hall, Oxon. where he matriculated on 16 November 1666, aged 16. He entered Lincoln's Inn. John purchased Pirbright Manor, Surrey, from Francis, Lord Montagu in 1677 and sold Henley Manor, Surrey, to Frederick Tylney on 20 October 1679.Surrey Archives G30/2/4; www.exploringsurreyspast.org *Mary, wife of Sir Stephen Anderson of Eyeworth, Beds.

Sources

* * * Noble, Mark (1787). ''Memoirs of the protectorate-house of Cromwell, ...'', Volume I
pp. 390–92

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Glynne, John 1602 births 1666 deaths 17th-century English judges Alumni of Hart Hall, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales People educated at Westminster School, London Serjeants-at-law (England) Lay members of the Westminster Assembly 17th-century English lawyers 17th-century Welsh politicians English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1660 Expelled legislators People from Llandwrog Roundheads Eleven Members Members of the Parliament of England for Caernarfon Members of Cromwell's Other House 17th-century Welsh judges