Edward Harley (Parliamentarian)
Sir Edward Harley KB (21 October 1624 – 18 December 1700) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1646 and 1695. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War.
Harley was born in Brampton Bryan, Herefordshire, the son of Sir Robert Harley, KB, and his third wife Brilliana, the daughter of Edward Conway, 1st Viscount Conway.[1] He was educated at Gloucester, Shrewsbury School and Magdalen Hall, Oxford. He was a student of Lincoln's Inn in 1641. In 1642, he took up arms in the Parliamentary cause against the King in 1642, though disapproving of military supremacy in the nation. He was shot in the arm during a skirmish in Gloucestershire in August 1644.[2] In 1646 he was elected Member of Parliament for Herefordshire as a recruiter to the Long Parliament and was excluded in 1648 under Pride's Purge. In 1656 he was elected MP for Herefordshire again in the Second Protectorate Parliament. He was elected MP for Herefordshire again in 1660 for the Convention Parliament.[1]
At the Restoration, Charles II made him Governor of Dunkirk in 1660. He was elected MP for Radnor in 1661 for the Cavalier Parliament and was re-elected in February 1679 for the First Exclusion Parliament. In the second election of 1679 he was elected MP for Herefordshire again, and was re-elected in 1681. He supported the revolution of 1688 and was re-elected for Herefordshire in 1689, in 1693 and 1695.[1]
Harley was a conscientious upholder of the rights of the people, who showed their appreciation by sending him continuously to Parliament. Though a churchman himself, he fought against any form of persecution of the dissenters, was without party prejudice, and was remembered more for his practical benefactions than for such theoretical performances as A Scriptural and Rational Account of the Christian Religion (1695).
He married and had two sons, Robert Harley (later Earl of Oxford) and Edward Harley (1664–1735); and two daughters Elizabeth and Abigail.
See also
List of deserters from James II to William of Orange
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 History of Parliament Online – Harley, Edward
- ↑ Noted in the Parliamentarian newsbook Mercurius Civicus, number 63, 1–8 August 1644 (British Library, Thomason Tracts E.4[28])
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Thurston, H. T.; Moore, F., eds. (1905). "article name needed". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
| Parliament of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Humphry Coningsby until 1644 Sir Robert Harley |
Member of Parliament for Herefordshire with Sir Robert Harley c. 1646 – Dec. 1648 but excluded Jan. 1647 – June 1648 |
Succeeded by vacant |
| Preceded by John Scudamore John Pateshal John Flacket Richard Read |
Member of Parliament for Herefordshire with James Berry Bennet Hoskyns Benjamin Mason 1654–1656 |
Succeeded by not represented |
| Preceded by Robert Harley |
Member of Parliament for Radnor 1661–1679 |
Succeeded by Griffith Jones |
| Preceded by The Viscount Scudamore Sir Herbert Croft, Bt |
Member of Parliament for Herefordshire with Sir Herbert Croft, Bt 1679–1685 |
Succeeded by Sir John Morgan, Bt Sir John Hoskyns, Bt |
| Preceded by Sir John Morgan, Bt Sir John Hoskyns, Bt |
Member of Parliament for Herefordshire with Sir John Morgan 1689–1690 |
Succeeded by Sir John Morgan, Bt Sir Herbert Croft, Bt |
| Preceded by Sir John Morgan, Bt Sir Herbert Croft, Bt |
Member of Parliament for Herefordshire with Sir Herbert Croft, Bt 1693–1698 |
Succeeded by Henry Cornewall Henry Gorges |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Interregnum | Custos Rotulorum of Radnorshire 1660–1685 |
Succeeded by Marquess of Worcester |
|