Henry Clerke was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

 between 1621 and 1626.

Clerke was recorder of Rochester. He was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Rochester

Rochester (UK Parliament constituency)

Rochester was a parliamentary constituency in Kent. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England from 1295 to 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800, and finally to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801...

 in 1621 until 1622 under the reign of King James I

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

. He was re-elected MP for Rochester in 1625 for both parliaments in that year under King Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

. His political seat was the house in Rochester later named Restoration House

Restoration house

Restoration House in Rochester, Kent, England, is a fine example of an Elizabethan mansion. It is so named because King Charles II stayed there in 1660 on his way to reclaim England's throne, an event known as the Restoration....

 which he created from some existing buildings.

In 1637, Clerke was made a serjeant-at law and some time before 1642, he acquired the manor of Ulcomb from Sir William St Leger. As Clerke supported King Charles in the Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

, Restoration House was sequestered and used by Colonel Gibbon as a headquarters in southeast England.

Clerke married Grace Morgan, daughter of George Morgan of Crow Lane House, Rochester. His sons Francis

Francis Clerke (c 1624- 1686)

Sir Francis Clerke was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1661 and 1685.Clerke was the son of Henry Clerke of Rochester, who was a lawyer and MP for Rochester. Clerke inherited his father's property which included Restoration House at Rochester...

 and John

John Clerke

John Clerke was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640.Clerke was the son of Henry Clerke of Rochester, Kent and his wife Grace Morgan, daughter of George Morgan of Crow Lane House Rochester. His father was a lawyer and MP for Rochester...

were also MPs for Rochester.