HUXLEY, James (1614-c.1672), of Dornford, Wootton and Oxford, Oxon.

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

Constituency

Dates

1660

Family and Education

bap. 6 Nov. 1614, 3rd s. of George Huxley, Haberdasher (d.1627), of Wyer Hall, Edmonton, Mdx. by Catherine, da. of John Robinson, Mercer, of London. educ. G. Inn 1632. m. Elizabeth, da. of Sir Robert Barkham, merchant, of Wainfleet St. Mary, Lincs. and Tottenham, Mdx., 2da.1

Offices Held

Freeman, Oxford Mar. 1660; j.p. Oxon. July 1660-?d., Oxford Aug. 1660-?d.; commr. for assessment, Oxon. and Oxford Aug. 1660-1, Oxford 1661-3.2

Biography

Huxley’s father, of Cheshire origin, bought Wyer Hall in 1609. Huxley himself was described by Wood as a Presbyterian, but he played no known part in the Civil War. It is not clear when he first came into Oxfordshire, but by 1660 he was living in a house (probably rented) behind Pembroke College ‘on the south side’. Elected to the Convention for Oxford after a contest, he made no recorded speeches, and was appointed to only nine committees of secondary importance, including those to consider an additional clause in the judicial proceedings bill and the bills to levy arrears of assessment and to prevent swearing and cursing. He probably voted with the Presbyterian Opposition. He was mentioned as a candidate in 1661, but did not go to the poll. He is said to have been a great improver of clover on his Dornford estate. He also owned lands in Huntingdonshire and Somerset, but these were not extensive. His will, signed on 31 Oct. 1672, was proved on 28 Feb. 1673. He was the only member of the family to sit in Parliament.3

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: M. W. Helms / Leonard Naylor / Geoffrey Jaggar

Notes

  • 1. Ped. Reg. i. 118; ii. 31; Misc. Gen. et Her. (ser. 2), i. 188; PCC 106 May.
  • 2. Oxford Council Acts (Oxf. Hist. Soc. xcv), 254.
  • 3. Mdx. Peds. (Harl. Soc. lxv), 111; Wood’s Life and Times (Oxf. Hist. Soc. xix), 311, 399; Hearth-Tax Returns (Oxf. Rec. Soc. xxi), 127; HMC Hastings, ii. 166; Ped. Reg. i. 122.