Sir Francis Popham was an English soldier and politician.

Francis Popham was the only son of Sir John Popham and was educated at Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

 and the Middle Temple

Middle Temple

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...

. He was knighted in 1596 and made KB in 1603.

He was a Member of Parliament from 1597 until 1644, for Somerset

Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)

Somerset was a parliamentary constituency in Somerset, which returned two Members of Parliament , known traditionally as knights of the shire, to the House of Commons of England until 1707, the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from...

 (1597), Wiltshire

Wiltshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Wiltshire was a constituency of the House of Commons of England from 1290 to 1707, of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament , elected by the bloc vote...

 (1604), Marlborough

Marlborough (UK Parliament constituency)

Marlborough was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1868, and then one member from 1868 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.e-1295-1640:-1640-1868:...

 (1614), Great Bedwin (1621), Chippenham

Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency)

Chippenham is a parliamentary constituency, abolished in 1983 but recreated in 2010, and represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 (1624, 1625, 1628), and Minehead

Minehead (UK Parliament constituency)

Minehead was a parliamentary borough in Somerset, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1563 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.- MPs 1563–1629 :...

 (Nov 1640 - Long Parliament

Long Parliament

The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...

), sitting in every parliament except the Short Parliament

Short Parliament

The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....

 of 1640 .

He took an active interest in the settlement of Virginia and New England. and started the construction of a 17-bay mansion at Hunstrete

Hunstrete

Hunstrete is a small village on the River Chew in the Chew Valley, Bath and North East Somerset, England. It falls within the civil parish of Marksbury and is 8 miles from Bristol, and Bath, and 5 miles from Keynsham.- History :...

.

He married Anne, daughter and heiress of John Dudley of Stoke Newington, Middlesex; they had four sons and seven daughters.