Francis Barrington
Sir Francis Barrington JP | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Essex | |
In office December 1620 – July 1628 | |
Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Essex | |
In office 1603–1626 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1560 Puritan activist |
Sir Francis Barrington, 1st Baronet of
One of the wealthiest members of the Essex gentry, Barrington was a strong advocate of reforming the Church of England, with family connections to many other Puritan activists. This allowed him to exercise significant influence within Parliament, where he opposed the religious and foreign policies of James and Charles I.
In 1626, he was imprisoned for refusing to help collect the Forced Loan, an attempt by Charles to levy taxes without Parliament's approval that prefigured later struggles over
His opposition made him a popular hero within the Puritan community; forty years after his death in 1670, he was described as "one of the mirrors of our time".[1]
Personal details
Barrington was born in 1560, eldest son of Sir Thomas Barrington of
He had a half-sister from his father's first marriage, Elizabeth (c. 1550-1583), a younger brother Henry, who died without children, and a sister, Katherine (c.1565–1623), who married William Bourchier (1599-1631).[5] Her eldest son John Bourchier (1595-1660) was a regicide who voted for the Execution of Charles I in January 1649.[6]
In 1579, Barrington married Joan Cromwell (c.1568-1641), aunt to the future Parliamentarian leaders Oliver Cromwell and John Hampden.[7] Demonstrating once again the close connections within the Puritan community, her sister Frances married Richard Whalley, and their son Edward Whalley was another regicide.[8]
They had nine surviving children, including four sons,
Career
Barrington graduated from
After Elizabeth I died in March 1603, Barrington was invited to Theobalds House in Hertfordshire to greet the new king James I on his progress from Edinburgh to London, and wrote to his tailor for advice on what clothes he should wear.[13] Knighted by James, he was re-elected for Essex in 1604 with the support of Robert Rich, 1st Earl of Warwick, a devout Calvinist.[14] The two men created a political alliance between their families that continued into the 1640s and beyond; another Puritan, the Earl of Sussex, whose main residence was in Essex, was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Essex in 1603, with Barrington serving as his Deputy.[15]
Barrington compiled a report for
Barrington used his wealth and family connections to increase his estates and political power; in 1612, he purchased Hatfield Manor from Robert Rich for £8,000, and began construction of
Like Barrington's son John, many English contemporaries fought in the Thirty Years War and were concerned by James' pro-
During peacetime, "Tonnage and poundage", or customs duties, were the Crown's main source of income and generally approved for the entire reign. Parliament now sought to make this an annual grant, increasing control over policy, an action unacceptable to Charles who dissolved it in August. He tried to win support from moderates by declaring war on Spain in September; directed by Buckingham, the result was the disastrous Cádiz expedition.[12]
When
Having failed to obtain money from Parliament, in September Charles imposed a Forced Loan to fund his foreign policy.
Footnotes
- bishops, it consisted of many different sects, Presbyterians being the most common.[3]
References
- ^ Seale 1983, p. 9.
- ^ Burke 1841, p. 43.
- ^ Spurr 1998, pp. 10–12.
- ^ Seale 1983, p. 12.
- ^ a b c Collins 1741, pp. 71–72.
- ^ Scott 2004.
- ^ Courthope 1835, p. 16.
- ^ Seale 1983, p. 29.
- ^ Seale 1983, p. 205.
- ^ Seale 1983, p. 253.
- ^ Lowndes 1878, pp. 251–273.
- ^ a b c d e f Thrush 2004.
- ^ Lowndes 1870, p. 542.
- ^ Usher 2004.
- ^ Seale 1983, p. 8.
- ^ a b c Thrush 2010.
- ^ Russell 1995, pp. 62–70.
- ^ MacDonald 1969, pp. 45–50.
- ^ Cust 1985, p. 209.
Sources
- Burke, John (1841). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland and Scotland. Scott, Webster, and Geary.
- Collins, Arthur (1741). The English Baronetage: Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account of All the English Baronets, Volume I. Thomas Wotton.
- Courthope, William (1835). Synopsis of the Extinct Baronetage of England. G. Woodfall.
- Cust, Richard (1985). "Charles I, the Privy Council, and the Forced Loan". Journal of British Studies. 24 (2): 208–235. S2CID 143537267.
- Lowndes, G. Alan (1878). "The History of the Barrington Family". Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society, Volume I.
- Lowndes, G. Alan (1870). Seventh Report of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. HMSO.
- MacDonald, William W (1969). "John Pym: Parliamentarian". Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 38 (1).
- Russell, Conrad (1995). King James VI and I and His English Parliaments: The Trevelyan Lectures Delivered at the University of Cambridge. ISBN 978-0198205067.
- Spurr, John (1998). English Puritanism, 1603-1689. Palgrave. ISBN 978-0333601884.
- Scott, David (2004). "Bourchier, Sir John (1595-1660". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2991. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Seale, Arthur (1983). Barrington family letters, 1628-1632. Royal Historical Society.
- Thrush, Andrew (2010). BARRINGTON, Sir Francis (c.1560-1628), of Barrington Hall and Priory House, Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex and Hackney, Mdx in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629. CUP. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
- Thrush, Andrew (2004). "Barrington, Sir Francis, first baronet (c. 1560–1628)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/70267. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Usher, Brett (2004). "Rich, Robert, first earl of Warwick (1559?-1619". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61021. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)