CAMPION, Henry (c.1586-c.1653), of Putney, Surr. and Newton Valence, Hants.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629, ed. Andrew Thrush and John P. Ferris, 2010
Available from Cambridge University Press

Constituency

Dates

1640 (Nov.)

Family and Education

b. c.1586, 1st s. of Abraham Campion, Clothworker, of Hay Wharf Lane, London, and Putney, and Helen, da. of Richard Duffield, Mercer, of Smithfield, London.2 educ. M. Temple 1605.3 m. 3 Aug. 1622,4 Anne, da. and coh. of John Willett, Clothworker, of Milk Street, London, and Putney, 5s.5 suc. fa. 1611, aged 25.6 d. c.1653.7

Offices Held

Member, Artillery Co. 1612;8 freeman, Lymington, Hants 1640;9 commr. defence, Hants 1643, Surr. 1645, assessment, Hants 1644-8, execution of ordinances 1645,10 sewers, Surr. and Kent 1645,11 militia, Hants 1648.12

Biography

Campion was the grandson of a London Mercer. His uncle Henry became surveyor of Crown lands in Hampshire and acquired the manor of Newton Valence, which was then inherited by Campion’s father, who bought the manors of Old and New Lymington in 1609.13 He died two years later, leaving Campion a house in Putney, which he made his principal residence, the Hampshire lands, and £3,000, while his seven younger brothers and sisters received some £1,000 each.14 Campion’s efforts to pay these legacies and settle his father’s debts involved him in continuous litigation and completely swallowed up his own bequest. It was perhaps in order to gain a respite from his difficulties that he stood for Lymington in 1621. In a contest for the second seat he beat the salt patentee, John More II*, by ten votes to five. He left no trace on the parliamentary records.

In 1624 the corporation of London extended Campion’s lands for a deceased brother’s debt, further reducing him to poverty.15 He was defeated in contests for both seats at Lymington in the 1624 general election, and stood again unsuccessfully in 1625.16 It was not until 1632 that he was able to reach a settlement with the City authorities. A moderate parliamentarian, he sat for Lymington in the Long Parliament but abstained after Pride’s Purge.17 He had died intestate by 12 May 1653 when his heir, anticipating the grant of administration by nearly four weeks, sold his interest in the Lymington salterns.18 The rest of the Lymington property was sold off by 1665. The family retained Newton Valence until 1698, but no other member entered Parliament.19

Ref Volumes: 1604-1629

Authors: Virginia C.D. Moseley / Rosemary Sgroi

Notes

  • 1. Did not sit after Pride’s Purge, 6 Dec. 1648.
  • 2. Harl. 1397, f.186; PROB 11/48, f. 63v; Vis. Surr. (Harl. Soc. xliii), 202-3.
  • 3. M. Temple Admiss.
  • 4. Misc. Gen. et Her. (ser. 4), ii. 262.
  • 5. PROB 11/127, f. 108.
  • 6. C142/321/102.
  • 7. PROB 6/30, f. 178.
  • 8. Ancient Vellum Bk. ed. G.A. Raikes, 18.
  • 9. E. King, Old Times Revisited, 189.
  • 10. A. and O. i. 335. 540, 699, 731, 974, 1092.
  • 11. C181/5, f. 264.
  • 12. A. and O. i. 1242.
  • 13. Lansd. 171, f. 397v; C.P. Jones, Lymington, 48; VCH Hants, iii. 27; iv. 646.
  • 14. PROB 11/117, f. 221.
  • 15. PROB 11/141, f. 44v; C78/366/7.
  • 16. Hants RO, 27M74A/DBC 1, pp. 135, 137.
  • 17. M.F. Keeler, Long Parl. 125-6.
  • 18. King, 243; PROB 6/30, f. 178.
  • 19. VCH Hants, iii. 27.