Sir John Harrison was an English 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...

  variously between 1640 and 1669. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War

English Civil War

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

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Harrison was born in Lancaster and went to London in 1611 at the age of 22. He was one of the first to suggest the position of commissioner of the customs and was given that post.

In April 1640, Harrison 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 Lancaster

Lancaster (UK Parliament constituency)

Lancaster 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 1867, centred on the historic city of Lancaster in north-west England...

 in 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....

. He was re-elected for Lancaster in November 1640 for the 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...

 He supported the King and was disabled from sitting in September 1643. He suffered greatly from his loyalty, being fined £10,745.

After the Restoration, Harrison was elected MP for Lancaster again in 1661 for the Cavalier Parliament

Cavalier Parliament

The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter century reign of Charles II of England...

 and held the seat until his death in 1669

Harrison died at the age of 80, at Balls House, Hertford.

Harrison married firstly Margaret Fanshawe, daughter of Robert Fanshawe, and secondly Mary Shotbolt. His daughter Ann by his first wife married Sir Richard Fanshawe, 1st Baronet ambassador to Spain. His descendents included Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount Townshend

Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount Townshend

Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount Townshend , known as Lord Lynn from 1723 to 1738, was a British politician....

, and George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend

George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend

Field Marshal George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, PC , known as The Viscount Townshend from 1764 to 1787, was a British soldier who reached the rank of field marshal.-Early life:...

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