James Whitelocke
Sir James Whitelocke SL (28 November 1570 – 22 June 1632) was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1610 and 1622.
Early life
Whitelocke was the younger of posthumous twin sons of Richard Whitelocke, a London merchant, by Joan Brockhurst, widow, daughter of John Colte of
Under James I
Whitelocke was appointed steward of the St. John's College estates in 1601. He became
In 1610 Whitelocke was elected in a by-election as Member of Parliament for
In 1613 Whitelocke's opposition to the prerogative brought him into sharp collision with the crown. The administration of the navy stood in urgent need of reform, and in the winter of 1612–13 a preliminary step was taken by the issue of a commission investing the lord high admiral (
In 1614 Whitelocke was re-elected MP for Woodstock in the Addled Parliament. He was nominated with Sir Thomas Crew and others to represent the Commons in the projected conference with the Lords. Because of the sudden dissolution on 7 June the conference never met and on the following day Whitelocke and his colleagues were summoned to the council chamber, and told to destroy the notes of their intended speeches. In disfavour at court, Whitelocke was compelled to surrender (18 November 1616) the reversion of the king's bench enrolments' office which he held jointly with Robert Heath, by whom he was also defeated in the contest for the recordership of London in November 1618.
Meanwhile, however, his professional reputation and gains increased. In 1616 he purchased the estate of
Whitelocke stood, on the whole, well with
Under Charles I
He was continued in office by Charles I, and in the following autumn it fell to him, as junior judge in his court, to discharge the hazardous duty of adjourning term during the plague outbreak of 1625. To escape from the contagion he drove, halting only at Hyde Park Corner to dine, in his coach from Horton, near Colnbrook, Buckinghamshire, to Westminster Hall, and, after hurrying through the necessary forms, re-entered his coach and drove back to Horton.[1]
In November 1626 Whitelocke concurred with Sir
In February 1629 the House of Commons enquired into the release of the supposed
Whitelocke was greatly interested in antiquarian studies, and was the author of several papers which are printed in Thomas Hearne's Collection of Discourses (1771); his journal, or Liber famelicus, was edited by John Bruce and published by the Camden Society in 1858.[1]
Whitelocke died at Fawley Court on 22 June 1632. His remains were interred in Fawley churchyard, with a marble monument. His estates were later exempted by the Long Parliament from liability to contribute to the fund for making reparation to Eliot and his fellow-sufferers.
Family
In 1602 Whitelocke married Elizabeth Bulstrode (1575-1631), a daughter of Edward Bulstrode of
Whitelocke's eldest son was the parliamentarian Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke (b. 1605). His son James was born in 1612. His daughter Elizabeth, born in 1603, married Thomas Mostyn in 1623, the others were; Mary (1606-1611); Cecilia born in March 1607; Joan in 1609 and died in 1610; Dorothy born and died in 1610.
Whitelocke's twin brother, William, served under Francis Drake, and fell at sea in an engagement with the Spaniards. Of two other brothers, the elder, Edmund, was a courtier who was implicated in the Gunpowder Plot.[1]
Notes
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rigg, James McMullen (1900). "Whitelocke, James". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 61. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- Powell, D. X. "Whitelocke, Sir James (1570–1632)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29299. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
Further reading
- Powell, Damian X., Sir James Whitelocke's Liber Famelicus, 1570–1632. Peter Lang AG, 2000. ISBN 0-8204-4637-8.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 606.