Sir Francis Wyndham, 1st Baronet

Sir Francis Wyndham, 1st Baronet (c. 1612 – 15 July 1676) of Trent in Somerset (now in Dorset) was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England in 1640. He was a colonel of horse in the Royalist army in the English Civil War and helped Charles II escape to France.

Wyndham was the son of Sir Thomas Wyndham and his wife Elzabeth Coningsby, daughter of Richard Coningsby.^[1]

In April 1640, Wyndham was elected Member of Parliament for Minehead in the Short Parliament.^[2] Wyndham became a colonel in the army of Charles I and was governor of Dunster Castle. In 1645 he was engaged in the defence of Bridgwater. After the Battle of Worcester in 1651, Wyndham was instrumental in the escape of Charles II to France, hiding him in his house at Trent, Dorset for several days.^[1]

In August 1660 Wyndham was elected MP for Milbourne Port in the Convention Parliament and was re-elected in 1661 for the Cavalier Parliament where he sat until his death.^[3] In 1661, he was a major in the Royal Horse Guards^[4] He was created a baronet on 18 November 1673. He died three years later at the age of 64.^[1]

Wyndham married Anne Gerard, daughter of Thomas Gerard of Trent, Somerset, and had three sons, Thomas, Gerard, and Francis. Sir Francis died in 1676, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Thomas.^[1]

References