John Baxter was an English 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 1601 and 1611.

Baxter may have been the son of Henry Baxter of Cannock, Staffordshire. He studied for the law entering either Grey's Inn in 1565 or 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...

 from New Inn in 1568. He was called to the bar in 1585. He became gaoler for Derbyshire in 1588 and was steward of Derby in 1599. In 1601, 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 Derby

Derby (UK Parliament constituency)

Derby is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950. It was represented by two Members of...

. He was re-elected MP for Derby in 1604. He was clerk of the peace for Derbyshire by 1606.

Baxter died by May 1611 when a replacement was sought for his position as clerk..