Sir Philip Stapleton of Warter-on-the Wolds

Warter

Warter is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately east of Pocklington on the B1246 road.According to the 2001 UK census, Warter parish had a population of 159....

 in Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, was an English 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,...

, a supporter of the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War

English Civil War

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

. His surname is also sometimes spelt Stapylton or Stapilton.

Life

He was the second son of Henry Stapleton of Wighill (d. 1630). He was admitted as a fellow-commoner of Queens' College, Cambridge

Queens' College, Cambridge

Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...

 in 1617. In 1630 he was knighted.

He served as MP for Hedon

Hedon (UK Parliament constituency)

Hedon, sometimes spelt Heydon, was a parliamentary borough in the East Riding of Yorkshire, represented by two Members of Parliament in the House of Commons briefly in the 13th century and again from 1547 to 1832.-History:...

 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....

 (Apr 1640) and Boroughbridge

Boroughbridge (UK Parliament constituency)

Boroughbridge was a parliamentary borough in Yorkshire from 1553 until 1832, when it was abolished under the Great Reform Act. Throughout its existence it was represented by two Members of Parliament in the House of Commons....

 in 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...

 (Nov 1640). In 1642 he was appointed parliamentary commissioner in Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

. When the civil war broke out he was made a colonel of horse and commander of the Earl of Essex's

Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex

Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex was an English Parliamentarian and soldier during the first half of the seventeenth century. With the start of the English Civil War in 1642 he became the first Captain-General and Chief Commander of the Parliamentarian army, also known as the Roundheads...

 bodyguard. He commanded a brigade of cavalry at the Battle of Edgehill

Battle of Edgehill

The Battle of Edgehill was the first pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642....

, one of two held in reserve until late in the day and whose charge against the flanks and rear of the Royal infantry almost secured a parliamentary victory but proved ultimately inconclusive. He also saw action at the Battle of Chalgrove Field

Battle of Chalgrove Field

The Battle of Chalgrove was a small battle during the English Civil War in the county of Oxfordshire. It took place around 09:00 hours on the morning of 18 June 1643 in Chalgrove Field, northeast of Chalgrove in Oxfordshire...

 and at the First Battle of Newbury

First Battle of Newbury

The First Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War that was fought on 20 September 1643 between a Royalist army, under the personal command of King Charles, and a Parliamentarian force led by the Earl of Essex...

. He was a member of the Committee of Safety

English Committee of Safety

The Committee of Safety, established by the Parliamentarians in July 1642, was the first of a number of successive committees set up to oversee the English Civil War against King Charles I, and the Interregnum.-1642–1644:...

 appointed in 1642 and of the Committee of Both Kingdoms

Committee of Both Kingdoms

The Committee of Both Kingdoms, , was a committee set up during the English Civil War by the Parliamentarian faction in association with representatives from the Scottish Covenanters, to oversee the conduct of the War and Foreign Policy...

 which replaced it in 1643.

However, he fell out of favour when he opposed the Self-Denying Ordinance

Self-denying Ordinance

The first Self-denying Ordinance was a bill moved on 9 December 1644 to deprive members of the Parliament of England from holding command in the army or the navy during the English Civil War. It failed to pass the House of Lords. A second Self-denying Ordinance was agreed to on 3 April 1645,...

 and the advancement of Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

. In 1647 he was one of the eleven MPs impeached by the army, but managed to escape to Calais

Calais

Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

, and died there later the same year.

Family

Stapleton married twice, first in 1627 to Frances Hotham (daughter of Sir John Hotham

John Hotham

Sir John Hotham, 1st Baronet, of Scorborough , English parliamentarian, belonged to a Yorkshire family, and fought on the continent of Europe during the early part of the Thirty Years' War....

), by whom he had four children:

• John Stapleton of Warter (d. 1697)
• Robert Stapleton of Wighill (d. 1675)
• Mary, who married The Viscount FitzWilliam (d. 1704)
• another daughter

His second wife was Barbara Lennard, daughter of The Lord Dacre

Henry Lennard, 12th Baron Dacre

Henry Lennard, 12th Baron Dacre was an English baron and politician. He was the son of Margaret Fiennes, 11th Baroness Dacre and Sampson Lennard.He was the Member of Parliament for West Looe and Baron Dacre....

. Their five children were:

• Henry Stapleton of Wighill (d. 1723)
• Philip Stapleton of Wighill (d. 1729)
• Frances Stapleton

and two other daughters.