Baptist Hicks, 1st Viscount Campden
Baptist Hicks, 1st Viscount Campden (1551 -18 October 1629) was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1628 when he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Campden.
Life
Hicks was the son of Robert Hicks, a wealthy mercer of Cheapside, London, and grandson of John Hicks of Tortworth. He was brought up in his father's business and imported rich silks from Italy and other foreign places. Through the influence of his brother Michael he contracted a large amount of business with the court and amassed a large fortune. Having made large loans to the Crown and to prominent courtiers, he was knighted on 23 July 1603, soon after the accession of James I. He was one of the first citizens who kept a shop to continue in trade once knighted.[1] He was in dispute with the Court of Aldermen of the City of London because he was unwilling to serve as an alderman, and got the king to direct that he be excused as a "king's servant".[2] He purchased the manor of Campden soon after 1608 and built a large mansion there near the church. (The house was burnt down by Royalists in the Civil War and only two pavilions remain).[3] In 1612 he founded and endowed an almshouse for 6 poor men and 6 poor women in Campden, and in 1627 built a market hall there (both buildings still stand). He performed many other charitable acts, in his life giving £100,000 for charity. He was created a baronet on 1 July 1620.[4]
In 1621, Hicks was elected Member of Parliament for Tavistock . In 1624 he was elected MP for Tewkesbury. He was re-elected MP for Tewkesbury in 1625.[5] Hicks became a JP for Gloucestershire in 1625 and a Deputy Lieutenant for Middlesex on 23 March 1625.[4] He was re-elected MP for Tewkesbury in 1626 and 1628.[5] He sat until May 1628 when he was created Viscount Campden with remainder to his son in law Edward Lord Noel.[4]
Hicks died at the age of 78 and is buried under a splendid classical monument in Chipping Campden church.[6]
Family
Hicks married on 6 March 1612 Elizabeth May daughter of Richard May of London and sister of Sir Humphrey May Alderman of London. His elder daughter Julian married Edward Lord Noel. His younger daughter Mary married firstly Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet of Cashiobury, secondly Sir John Cooper, 1st Baronet and thirdly Sir Edward Alford.[4]
References
- ↑ ODNB
- ↑ http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=59893
- ↑ "Sir Baptist Hicks". Cotsworld Famous People. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 W R Williams Parliamentary History of the County of Gloucester
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. pp. 229–239.
- ↑ David Verey, Gloucestershire - the Cotswolds (The Buildings of England, Penguin,1970)
| Parliament of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Edward Duncombe Sir Francis Glanville |
Member of Parliament for Tavistock 1621-1622 With: Sir Francis Glanville |
Succeeded by John Pym Sampson Hele |
| Preceded by Sir Dudley Digges |
Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury 1624-1628 With: Sir Dudley Digges 1624-1626 Sir Thomas Colepeper 1628 |
Succeeded by Sir Thomas Colepeper Sir William Hicks |