Sir John Hewley was an English magistrate and Member of Parliament, an early Whig.

Life

He was son of John Hewley of Wistow

Wistow, North Yorkshire

Wistow is a small village and civil parish just north of Selby, North Yorkshire, England. Until 2004 Wistow had a small colliery.-External links:*...

, near Selby

Selby

Selby is a town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Situated south of the city of York, along the course of the River Ouse, Selby is the largest and, with a population of 13,012, most populous settlement of the wider Selby local government district.Historically a part of the West Riding...

. He was admitted to Gray's Inn

Gray's Inn

The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

, 4 February 1638, and became recorder

Recorder (judge)

A Recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales. It now refers to two quite different appointments. The ancient Recorderships of England and Wales now form part of a system of Honorary Recorderships which are filled by the most senior full-time circuit judges...

 of Doncaster

Doncaster

Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

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He sat in Parliament for Pontefract

Pontefract (UK Parliament constituency)

Pontefract was an English parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Pontefract in the West Riding of Yorkshire, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons briefly in the 13th century and again from 1621 until 1885, and one member from 1885 to 1974.-In the unreformed...

 1658–60, was knighted at Whitehall Palace on 30 June 1663, and sat for York

City of York (UK Parliament constituency)

The City of York was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...

 in 1678, 1679, and 1681. He encouraged literary work, giving monetary support to the production of William Dugdale

William Dugdale

Sir William Dugdale was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.-Life:...

's Monasticon and Matthew Poole

Matthew Poole

Matthew Poole was an English Nonconformist theologian.-Life to 1662:He was born at York, the son of Francis Pole, but he spelled his name Poole, and in Latin Polus; his mother was a daughter of Alderman Toppins there. He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, from 1645, under John...

's Synopsis Criticorum.

He kept a presbyterian chaplain, who gathered a public congregation in York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

, for which a small chapel, cruciform in shape, was built at St. Saviourgate in 1692 (registered 8 April 1693). Now it is York Unitarian Chapel

York Unitarian Chapel

York Unitarian Chapel is a building on St. Saviourgate, York, England. It is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians....

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Sir John Hewley died at his country residence, Bell Hall, near York, on 24 August 1697, and was buried in St. Saviour's Church, York. He married Sarah Wolrych, who survived him and set up the Lady Hewley Trust

Lady Hewley Trust

The Lady Hewley Trust, now a charity, began as a significant benefaction to support Presbyterian, Congregationalist and Baptist ministers, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The trust was later at the centre of a 12-year legal suit in the nineteenth century, noted in Unitarian history,...

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