John Arundell (born 1576)
Sir John Arundell (1576 – ?1656), nicknamed "Jack for the King", was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1597 and 1640. He was Royalist governor of Pendennis Castle during the English Civil War.
Arundell was the son of John Arundell of Trerice and his wife Gertrude Dennys, daughter of Sir Robert Dennys of Holcombe.[1] He was a grandson of Admiral Sir John Arundell (nicknamed "Jack of Tilbury"), and head of one of Cornwall's leading families.
He entered Parliament in 1597 as Member of Parliament for Mitchell, a rotten borough situated in one of the family's manors. He subsequently also represented Cornwall in the Parliaments of 1601 and 1621 and was appointed sheriff of Cornwall in 1607. He was a member for St Mawes in 1624 and for Tregony in 1628, sitting until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.[2]
In April 1640, Arundell was re-elected a member for Tregony in the Short Parliament. He was not elected to the Long Parliament, although two of his sons were members, Richard for Lostwithiel and John for Bodmin.[2] Following the outbreak of the Civil War he was loyal to the King and was present at the Royalist victory at Braddock Down. About 1643 he was appointed governor of Pendennis Castle. After Naseby, the Parliamentary army swept through the West Country, but Arundell defiantly refused the demands of Fairfax to submit: "I resolve that I will here bury myself before I deliver up this castle to such as fight against his majesty, and that nothing you can threaten is formidable to me in respect of the loss of loyalty and conscience." However, he was forced to surrender in August 1646 after a five-month siege - the last castle but one to hold out for the King. The family was fined £10,000 by the government, a large but not impossible sum, and although their estates were sequestered and let, the Arundells were able to retrieve them on payment of a further sum.
Arundell died before the end of the Commonwealth, but after the Restoration the family's fortunes were restored and his second son, Richard, who had been active in the Sealed Knot conspiracy, was raised to the Peerage as Baron Arundell of Trerice, partly in recognition of his father's service to the Crown.
Arundel married Mary Cary, a daughter of George Cary of Clovelly.[1]
He is a character in the historical novel The Grove of Eagles by Winston Graham.
See Also
References
- Dictionary of National Biography
- D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
| Parliament of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Walter Raleigh Richard Reynell |
Member of Parliament for Mitchell 1597 With: John Carew |
Succeeded by George Chudleigh William Cholmley |
| Preceded by William Killigrew Jonathan Trelawny |
Member of Parliament for Cornwall 1601 With: Sir Walter Raleigh |
Succeeded by Sir Anthony Rous Sir Jonathan Trelawny |
| Preceded by Richard Carew John St Aubyn |
Member of Parliament for Cornwall 1621-1622 With: Bevil Grenville |
Succeeded by Bevil Grenville William Coryton |
| Preceded by Edward Wrightington John Hockmere |
Member of Parliament for St Mawes 1624 With: William Hockmere |
Succeeded by Sir James Fullerton Nathaniel Tomkins |
| Preceded by Thomas Carey Sir Robert Killigrew |
Member of Parliament for Tregony 1628-1629 With: Francis Rous |
Succeeded by Parliament suspended until 1640 |
| Preceded by Parliament suspended since 1629 |
Member of Parliament for Tregony 1640 With: John St Aubyn |
Succeeded by Sir Richard Vyvyan John Polwhele |