Richard Knightley (died 1639)

For other people named Richard Knightley, see Richard Knightley (disambiguation).

Richard Knightley (3 June 1593 – 8 November 1639) was an English Member of Parliament (MP).

He was the only surviving son of Edward Knightley of Gray's Inn, London and Preston Capes, Northantonshire and was educated at Gray's Inn. He was the grandson of Sir Richard Knightley. In 1618 he succeeded his uncle Sir Valentine Knightley, inheriting the family's Fawsley estate.

He was MP for Northamptonshire in the parliaments of 1621, 1624, 1625 and 1628, and also served as High Sheriff of Northamptonshire for 1626–27. He refused to pay the King's forced loan in 1627, and thereafter acted in the House of Commons with Sir John Eliot and John Hampden in their resistance to the royal policy.

He died in 1639 and was buried at Fawsley. He had married Bridget, the daughter of Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote, Warwickshire. They had no children. He was succeeded by his cousin Richard Knightley (1580–1650) of Burgh Hall, Staffordshire.

References