Family and Education

b. 25 Dec. 1636, o.s. of Roger Warre (d.1637) of Hestercombe by Anne, da. of Sir Thomas Wyndham of Kentsford. educ. Oriel, Oxf. 1654; L. Inn 1656. m. c.1658, Unton, da. of Francis Hawley, 1st Baron Hawley of Duncannon [I], of Buckland Sororum, wid. of John Malet of Enmore, Som., 1s. suc. gdfa. 1638; kntd. 31 May 1660.2

Offices Held

J.p. Som. July 1660-d., commr. for sewers Aug., Dec. 1660, assessment 1661-d., corporations 1662-3, sheriff 1662-3; commr. for oyer and terminer, Western circuit 1665; dep. lt. Som. 1666-d.; freeman, Lyme Regis 1666.3

Capt. Duke of Richmond’s Horse 1666-7.

Biography

The Warres had been in Somerset since the 13th century and Hestercombe, near Taunton, had been their seat since the reign of Richard II. The first of the family to enter Parliament, however, was returned for Wiltshire in 1449. Warre was left an orphan at an early age, and brought up in the strongly royalist household of Francis Wyndham. At the Restoration he was knighted and appointed to the commission of the peace, of which he was an active member until his death. He was particularly hostile to nonconformists, and in April 1663 he presented the wife of his neighbour George Speke as the leader of a conventicle. He regarded such meetings as seditious and suppressed them whenever possible. He was also prominent in recruiting for Tangier and the second Dutch war, and in 1665 contributed £100 to furnish a company of horse that he had raised himself. In November he defeated Sir John Sydenham in a county by-election, but he was not active in the Cavalier Parliament. Of his nine committees, the most important was to prepare a bill for redressing abuses in the militia. In September 1669 Sir Thomas Osborne listed him among those to be engaged for the Court by the Duke of York but crossed his name out on hearing of his death. The writ for a by-election was ordered on 19 Oct.4

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: Irene Cassidy

Notes

• 1. New writ.
• 2. Harbin, Som. Members, 174-5; Sales of Wards (Som. Rec. Soc. lxvii), 76-78; C142/729/56.
• 3. Q. Sess. Recs. (Som. Rec. Soc. xxxiv), p. xx; Som. RO, DD/Pot 162; CSP Dom. 1665-6, p. 476; Wells corp. act bk. 1662-5; Lyme Regis archives B6/11.
• 4. Collinson, Som. iii. 259, 262-3; PCC 25 Coventry; CSP Dom. 1663-4, p. 116; 1665-6, pp. 67, 69-70, 74, 95-96.