ANDERSON, Richard (1659-95), of Fleet Marston, Bucks.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. Apr. 1659, 2nd s. of Sir Richard Anderson, 2nd Bt. (d.1699) of Pendley, Tring, Herts. by 1st w. Elizabeth, da. of Sir Thomas Hewett, 1st Bt., of Pishiobury, Sawbridgeworth, Herts. educ. L. Inn 1676. m. 22 July 1679 (with £4,000), Elizabeth, da. and coh. of Richard Spencer, Vintner, of Berry Street, Aldgate, London and Newington, Surr., s.p.1

Offices Held

J.p. Bucks. 1685-9.2

Biography

Anderson’s great-grandfather bought Pendley in 1607. His grandfather, created a baronet in 1643, was a passive Royalist in the Civil War. Despite a fine of £1,730 for his delinquency he was apparently able to purchase an estate at Fleet Marston, three miles from Aylesbury. Anderson’s only brother died young, and, while still under age, he eloped with the step-daughter of Sir John Stonhouse. He was returned for Aylesbury to James II’s Parliament as a Tory, but left no trace on its records. He gave affirmative answers on the repeal of the Test Act and Penal Laws, but the electors rejected him as court candidate in 1688 ‘for his morals’. Apparently a non-juror, he died in 1695 and was buried at Aldbury, the only member of his family to sit in Parliament. His widow became the second wife of Simon Harcourt, the Tory statesman.3

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: Leonard Naylor

Notes

  • 1. Clutterbuck, Herts. i. 285; BL, M636/33, John to Edmund and Sir Ralph Verney, 24 July 1679.
  • 2. Bucks. Sess. Recs. i. 509.
  • 3. VCH Herts. ii. 285; VCH Bucks. iv. 75; Cal. Comm. Comp. 873-4; HMC Portland, ii. 307.