Thomas Standish 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...

  between 1640 and 1642. Standish was a zealous Parliamentarian

Roundhead

"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...

.

Standish was the son of Alexander Standish of Duxbury. He inherited the family manors of Duxbury in 1622, on the death of his father.

In April 1640, Standish 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 Preston

Preston (UK Parliament constituency)

Preston is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...

 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 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...

 and held the seat until his death in 1642.

Standish died at the age of 49.

Standish married Anne Wingfield, daughter of Sir Thomas WIngfield of Letheringham, Suffolk. His eldest son, Thomas supported the king's side and was killed in September 1642 while taking part in the attack on Manchester. Standish was succeeded by a younger son Richard

Richard Standish

Richard Standish was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1659 and 1660. He was a colonel in the Parliamentarian army in the English Civil War....

, whose son and heir Richard  was created a baronet

Standish Baronets

The Standish Baronetcy, of Duxbury in the County of Lancaster, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 8 February 1677 for Richard Standish, subsequently Member of Parliament for Wigan...

in 1677.