WROTH, John (c.1646-1708), of Loughton Hall, Essex.

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

Constituency

Dates

1689

Family and Education

b. c.1646, o.s. of John Wroth of Loughton Hall by Anne, da. of Thomas Huxley, Mercer, of Foster Lane, London, wid. of Joshua Gallard, Leatherseller, of London. educ. travelled abroad (France) 1663-5. m. (1) lic. 13 Apr. 1666, aged 20, Elizabeth, da. of William, 2nd Baron Maynard of Estaines, 1s.; (2) lic. 20 May 1673, Dorothy (bur. 5 June 1693), da. of Ralph Pigott of Holborn, Mdx., wid. of John Moyle of the Inner Temple and West Twyford, Mdx., 4s. (2 d.v.p.) 6da.; (3) 26 Nov. 1706, Jane (bur. 10 Jan. 1735) da. of Thomas White, Dyer, of London, wid. of William Coke of Lincoln’s Inn and Trusley, Derbys., s.p.; at least 2 illegit. ch. suc. fa. 1622.1

Offices Held

Cornet, Prince Rupert’s Horse 1667; capt. Lord Gerard’s Horse 1678-9.

Commr. for assessment, Essex 1673-80, 1689-90; j.p. Essex 1673-Apr. 1688, Herts. 1683-Feb. 1688, Essex and Herts. Oct. 1688-d.; commr. for recusants, Essex 1675, dep. lt. by 1683-Feb. 1688, 1703-?d.; capt. of militia. horse by 1697-?d.2

Biography

Wroth was decended from a cadet branch that acquired Loughton by marriage in 1579. His father took no known part in the Civil War, but was recommended for the order of the Royal Oak in 1660 with an estate of £1,500 p.a.; but Wroth’s taste for litigation succeeded in reducing his income by a third. ‘A very careless and debauched gentleman’, he served briefly in the army, and presumably opposed exclusion, for he was retained on the county bench till 1688. ‘A blustering country justice and a gentleman grazier’, he gave negative answers to the first and second questions on the repeal of the Test Act and Penal Laws and was removed from local office. After informing Sir Thomas Fanshawe II that he would not stand for the county, he put himself forward as a candidate in September 1688, and on the recommendation of Lord Petre, the Roman Catholic lord lieutenant, he was restored to the commission of the peace. He assisted Princess Anne and Bishop Compton to escape from London during the Revolution, and narrowly defeated John Lamott Honeywood at the general election of 1689. An inactive Member of the Convention, he was appointed to only six committees and made no recorded speeches. He may have been a court Tory. His committees included those to consider the affairs of the East India Company, to prepare a bill against abuses in selling offices and to reverse Walcot’s attainder. He apparently did not stand again. He was buried at Loughton on 6 Mar. 1708. In his will he provided for four legitimate children and two bastards, but the others were cut off with a shilling. He was the last of his family to sit in Parliament.3

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: Gillian Hampson / Geoffrey Jaggar

Notes

  • 1. Ped. Reg. i. 118; Trans. Essex Arch. Soc. n.s. viii. 181, 348, 350-1; London Mar. Lic. ed. Foster, 1516; Misc. Gen. et Her. (ser. 5), iv. 234; J. T. Coke, Coke of Trusley, 30.
  • 2. Essex RO, Q/SR 428-537; Assize rolls 35/117-24; D/DAc2; D/KW 01; Eg. 1626, f. 15.
  • 3. Vis. Essex (Harl. Soc. xiii), 330; Trans. Essex Arch. Soc. n.s. viii. 146-8. 350; VCH Essex. iv. 118; Ailesbury Mems. i. 191; Trans. Essex Arch. Soc. n.s. viii. 351-2; Bodl. North mss. B 1, f. 322; Bramston Autobiog. (Cam. Soc. xxxii), 317-18, 346; Essex RO, D/DAc 2; CJ , x. 75-77; PCC 77 Barrett.