Sir Roger Twysden, 2nd Baronet
Encyclopedia
Sir Roger Twysden, 2nd Baronet (21 August 1597 – 27 June 1672), of Roydon Hall in Kent
, was an English historian and politician who sat in the House of Commons
at various times between 1625 and 1640.
and his wife Anne Finch, daughter of Sir Moyle Finch, 1st Baronet
. His father was a courtier and scholar who shared in some of the voyages against Spain in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I
and was well known at the court of King James I
becoming one of the first baronet
s. Twysden was educated at St Paul's School and was admitted at Emmanuel College, Cambridge
on 8 November 1614. He entered Gray's Inn
on 2 February 1623. For some years, he remained on his estate at Roydon Hall, East Peckham
, largely engaged in building and planting, but also in studying antiquities and the law of the constitution
.
In 1625, Twysden was elected Member of Parliament
for Winchelsea
. He was re-elected MP for Winchelsea in 1626. As eldest son, he succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his father on 8 January 1629.
Twysden showed his determination to stand on his rights by refusing to pay ship money
. In April 1640 he was elected MP for Kent
in the Short Parliament
. However, he become disillusioned and was not a member of the Long Parliament
elected later the same year. He applauded the early measures of the parliament to restrict the king's prerogative but became alarmed when it went on to assail the Church
. The attainder
of Lord Strafford
frightened him as a tyrannical use of power, and he became a typical example of the men who formed the strength of the king's party in the English Civil War
. He considered himself too old to serve in the field and therefore he did not join the king at Oxford.
In 1642 he was arrested after signing a petition from Kent and, once he was released on bail, he published the seditious Instructions. He was caught while trying to flee the country and was imprisoned again. In 1643 his estates were sequestrated. After the execution of the King he returned to Kent, but his respect for legality would not let him rest, and he was soon in trouble again for another demonstration known as "The Instruction to Mr Augustine Skinner
." For this he was again arrested and for a time confined in a public-house, called "The Two Tobacco Pipes," near Charing Cross
, London
. He was released with a distinct intimation that he would be well advised not to go back to Roydon Hall, but to keep out of temptation in London. He took the advice and applied himself to reading. One plan for going abroad was given up, but at last he endeavoured to escape in disguise, was detected, and was brought back to London. He was now subjected to all the vexations inflicted on Royalist partisans of good property: sequestrations of his rents, fines for "malignancy," and confinement in the Tower of London
, where he consoled himself with his books. At last he reached a settlement in 1650 and went home, where he lived quietly till the Restoration
, when he resumed his position as magistrate and was made Deputy Lieutenant
of the county. He was never fully reconciled to the Court or government.
Twysden died on 27 June 1672 andwas buried at Peckham. Memorials to the Twysden family are to be found in St Michael's church
, East Peckham.
The Scriptores Decem were ten chroniclers, namely: Simeon Monachus Dunelmensis, Johannes Prior Hagustaldensis, Ricardus Prior Hagustaldensis, Ailredus Abbas Rievallensis, Radulphus de Diceto Londoniensis, Johannes Brompton Jornallensis, Gervasius Monachus Dorobornensis, Thomas Stubbs Dominicanus, Gulielmus Thorn Cantuariensis, Henricus Knighton Leicestrensis.
. Their son, William
(1635-1697), succeeded to the baronetcy on Twysden's death.
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, was an English historian 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...
at various times between 1625 and 1640.
Life
Twysden was the son of Sir William Twysden, 1st BaronetSir William Twysden, 1st Baronet
Sir William Twysden, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1593 and 1628....
and his wife Anne Finch, daughter of Sir Moyle Finch, 1st Baronet
Sir Moyle Finch, 1st Baronet
Sir Moyle Finch, 1st Baronet was an English politician.He was the eldest surviving son of Sir Thomas Finch of Eastwell, Kent and the brother of Henry Finch....
. His father was a courtier and scholar who shared in some of the voyages against Spain in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
and was well known at the court 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...
becoming one of the first baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
s. Twysden was educated at St Paul's School and was admitted at Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
on 8 November 1614. He entered 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...
on 2 February 1623. For some years, he remained on his estate at Roydon Hall, East Peckham
East Peckham
East Peckham is a village in Kent, England, made up of nine hamlets and situated about east of Tonbridge on the River Medway. It was the centre for the hop growing industry in Kent and is still home to the Hop Farm which has the world's largest collection of Oast Houses.-History:The Domesday entry...
, largely engaged in building and planting, but also in studying antiquities and the law of the constitution
Constitution of the United Kingdom
The constitution of the United Kingdom is the set of laws and principles under which the United Kingdom is governed.Unlike many other nations, the UK has no single core constitutional document. In this sense, it is said not to have a written constitution but an uncodified one...
.
In 1625, Twysden 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 Winchelsea
Winchelsea (UK Parliament constituency)
Winchelsea was a parliamentary constituency in Sussex, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1366 until 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-Boundaries:...
. He was re-elected MP for Winchelsea in 1626. As eldest son, he succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his father on 8 January 1629.
Twysden showed his determination to stand on his rights by refusing to pay ship money
Ship money
Ship money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...
. In April 1640 he was elected MP for Kent
Kent (UK Parliament constituency)
Kent was a parliamentary constituency covering the county of Kent in southeast England. It returned two "knights of the shire" to the House of Commons by the bloc vote system from the year 1290...
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....
. However, he become disillusioned and was not a member of 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...
elected later the same year. He applauded the early measures of the parliament to restrict the king's prerogative but became alarmed when it went on to assail the Church
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. The attainder
Attainder
In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura is the metaphorical 'stain' or 'corruption of blood' which arises from being condemned for a serious capital crime . It entails losing not only one's property and hereditary titles, but typically also the right to pass them on to one's heirs...
of Lord Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1632 to 1639 he instituted a harsh rule as Lord Deputy of Ireland...
frightened him as a tyrannical use of power, and he became a typical example of the men who formed the strength of the king's party 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...
. He considered himself too old to serve in the field and therefore he did not join the king at Oxford.
In 1642 he was arrested after signing a petition from Kent and, once he was released on bail, he published the seditious Instructions. He was caught while trying to flee the country and was imprisoned again. In 1643 his estates were sequestrated. After the execution of the King he returned to Kent, but his respect for legality would not let him rest, and he was soon in trouble again for another demonstration known as "The Instruction to Mr Augustine Skinner
Augustine Skinner
Augustine Skinner was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1642 and 1659. He took the Parliamentary side during the English Civil War....
." For this he was again arrested and for a time confined in a public-house, called "The Two Tobacco Pipes," near Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He was released with a distinct intimation that he would be well advised not to go back to Roydon Hall, but to keep out of temptation in London. He took the advice and applied himself to reading. One plan for going abroad was given up, but at last he endeavoured to escape in disguise, was detected, and was brought back to London. He was now subjected to all the vexations inflicted on Royalist partisans of good property: sequestrations of his rents, fines for "malignancy," and confinement in the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
, where he consoled himself with his books. At last he reached a settlement in 1650 and went home, where he lived quietly till the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
, when he resumed his position as magistrate and was made Deputy Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
of the county. He was never fully reconciled to the Court or government.
Twysden died on 27 June 1672 andwas buried at Peckham. Memorials to the Twysden family are to be found in St Michael's church
St Michael's Church, East Peckham
St Michael's is a redundant Anglican church in East Peckham, Kent, England. The Grade II* listed church is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust and open to the public.-History:...
, East Peckham.
Works
Twysden's claim to notice rests on three works:- The Commoners Liberty (1648);
- Historiae Anglicanae Scriptores Decem (1652), a pioneering work of English medieval history; and
- An Historical Vindication of the Church of England (1657).
The Scriptores Decem were ten chroniclers, namely: Simeon Monachus Dunelmensis, Johannes Prior Hagustaldensis, Ricardus Prior Hagustaldensis, Ailredus Abbas Rievallensis, Radulphus de Diceto Londoniensis, Johannes Brompton Jornallensis, Gervasius Monachus Dorobornensis, Thomas Stubbs Dominicanus, Gulielmus Thorn Cantuariensis, Henricus Knighton Leicestrensis.
Family
Twysden married Isabella Saunders, daughter of Sir Nicholas Saunders of EwellEwell
Ewell is a village in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, close to the southern boundary of Greater London. It is located 14 miles south-south-west of Charing Cross and forms part of the suburbia that surrounds Greater London. Despite its growing population it is still referred to as a...
. Their son, William
Sir William Twysden, 3rd Baronet
Sir William Twysden, 3rd Baronet , of Roydon Hall in Kent, was an English landowner and Member of Parliament.He was the eldest son of Sir Roger Twysden, 2nd Baronet, and succeeded to the baronetcy on 27 June 1672....
(1635-1697), succeeded to the baronetcy on Twysden's death.