Walter Rumsey
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Walter Rumsey (1584–1660) was a Welsh judge 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. He suffered for his support of the
Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
cause 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 ...
. He was also a man of arts and sciences, and developed plantsmanship, devised a medical apparatus and carried out scientific experiments on coffee and tobacco.


Early life

Rumsey was born at Llanover, in Monmouthshire, the son of Walter Rumsey of Usk."The diary of Walter Powell of Llantilio Crossenny"
/ref> He was admitted to Gloucester Hall, Oxford, at the age of 16, James Cornelius Morrice. ''Wales in the seventeenth century : its literature and men of letters and action''
/ref> where he studied under
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
and
William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions to anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, pulmonary and systemic circulation ...
.Bennett Alan Weinberg, Bonnie K. Bealer "The world of caffeine: the science and culture of the world's most popular drug"
/ref> He then went to
Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
, where he was made Barrister, Puncher, and Lent Reader. In 1635 he was appointed Puisne Judge in the Brecon Circuit, and in 1637 he became Chief Justice. He was so eminent in his profession that he was called "the picklock of the Law."


Career

In April 1640, Rumsey was elected Member of Parliament for
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...
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 refused to serve in the Long Parliament and in 1645 was removed by parliament from his position as second justice on the Brecknock circuit. In addition to the law, Rumsey was interested in philosophy, science and music. Anthony Wood described him as a good musician who played the organ and lute and was a composer. Of his plantsmanship Wood wrote "He was an ingeniose man, and had a philosophicall head; he was most curious for grafting, inoculating, and planting, and ponds. If he had any old dead plumbe-tree, or apple-tree, he lett them stand, and planted vines at the bottome, and lett them climbe up, and they would beare very well."Thomas Hearne, John Aubrey ''Letters written by eminent persons in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries''
/ref>


Inventions

Rumsey invented the probang, a medical instrument made of whalebone, to cleanse the throat and stomach which was described in his work called ''Organon Salutis: an instrument to cleanse the stomach'' in 1657.The Coffee Houses of Old London
/ref> Wood wrote "He was much troubled with flegme, and being so one winter at the court at
Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...
e (where he was one of the counsellours), sitting by the fire, spitting and spewling, he tooke a fine tender sprig, and tied a ragge at the end, and conceived he might putt it downe his throate, and fetch up the flegme, and he did so. Afterwards he made this instrument of whale-bone. I have oftentimes seen him use it. I could never make it goe downe my throate, but for those that can 'tis a most incomparable engine. If troubled with the wind it cures you immediately. It makes you vomit without any paine, and besides, the vomits of apothecaries have aliquid vetietii in them." Rumsey was interested in the medical uses of
coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...
and in his ''Electuary of Cophy'', which appeared in 1657 he gave a prescription for "a new and superior way of preparing coffee" as an Electuray to take when using the provang.
"Take equal quantity of Butter and Sallet-oyle, melt them well together, but not boyle them: Then stirre them well that they may incorporate together: Then melt therewith three times as much Honey, and stirre it well together: Then add thereunto powder of Turkish Cophie, to make it a thick Electuary".
He also devised a concoction called "wash-brew" which included oatmeal, powder of "cophie", a pint of ale or any wine, ginger, honey, or sugar to please the taste, to which could be added butter and any cordial powder or pleasant spice. The mixture was to be kept in a flannel bag for use when required. This said to be a popular medicine among the Welsh people. Rumsey wrote another work, ''Divers new experiments of the virtue of Tobacco and Coffee'' to which Sir Henry Blount and James Howell wrote commendatory Epistles. In a chapter entitled "Experiments of Cophee" he noted that coffee had the power to cure drunkards.


Marriage and later life

Rumsey married Barbara Pritchard, daughter of Martha Pritchard Llanover. On the Restoration, Rumsey was proposed for the intended order of Knights of the Royal Oak. He died in 1660 at the age of 76.


References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rumsey, Walter 1584 births 1660 deaths English MPs 1640 (April) Alumni of Gloucester Hall, Oxford Cavaliers Members of Gray's Inn People from Monmouthshire Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales 17th-century Welsh judges