STONHOUSE, Sir George, 3rd Bt. (1603-75), of Radley, nr. Abingdon, Berks.

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

Constituency

Dates

Apr. 1640
Nov. 1640 - 22 Jan. 1644
23 May 1660
1661 - 31 Mar. 1675

Family and Education

bap. 28 Aug. 1603, 2nd s. of Sir William Stonehouse, 1st Bt. of Radley by Elizabeth, da. and h. of John Powell of Fulham, Mdx. educ. G. Inn 1619. m. lic. 22 Apr. 1633, Margaret, da. of Richard Lovelace, 1st Baron Lovelace of Hurley, 3s. 1da. suc. bro. Sir John Stonehouse, 2nd Bt. 14 June 1632; cr. Bt. (new patent) 5 May 1670.1

Offices Held

J.p. Berks. 1632-46, July 1660-d., sheriff 1637 8; freeman, Abindon 1640; dep. lt. Berks. by 1640, c. Aug. 1660-d., commr. of array 1642, execution of ordinances 1643, levying of money 1643, oyer and terminer, Oxford circuit July 1660, assessment, Berks. Aug. 1660-d.; steward of Ock and Moreton Hundreds Nov. 1660-d.; commr. for corporations, Berks. 1662-3, recusants 1675.2

Biography

Stonhouse’s grandfather, who came from a widespread Kentish family, obtained a post in the Household and bought the estate of Radley, two miles from Abingdon, in 1560. From 1628 almost to the end of the century, apart from the Interregnum, the Stonhouse interest dominated the single-Member constituency. Stonhouse was responsible for collecting ship-money in Berkshire in 1637-8, but after some hesitation he joined the Royalists in the Civil War, suing out a pardon in 1644, and was fined £1,460 for his delinquency under the Oxford articles. Though ineligible at the general election of 1660, under the Long Parliament ordinance, he stood against John Lenthall for the family borough, and was seated on the merits of the election. His only committee in the Convention was to direct the clerk of the Commons in engrossing the bill for settling ecclesiastical livings. He was re-elected, probably unopposed, to the Cavalier Parliament, in which he was again inactive. He was named only to the committee of elections and privileges in seven sessions and to five others of no political importance. Though clearly an Anglican, Stonhouse was included by Lord Wharton among his friends in 1661. His name appears on no court party list, and he was probably a country Cavalier. In Bishop Ward’s list of Berkshire justices his estate is estimated at £2,000 p.a. In 1670 he obtained a new patent of baronetcy in order to disinherit his eldest son, who had displeased him by first debauching and then marrying his kitchen-maid. He died on 31 Mar. and was buried at Radley.3

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: M. W. Helms / Leonard Naylor

Notes

  • 1. Radley par. reg.; C. J. Feret, Fulham Old and New, ii. 184; Vis. Berks. (Harl. Soc. lvii), 217.
  • 2. Keeler, Long Parl. 352; Abingdon bor. min. bk. x, p. 165, 190; Cal. Treas. Bks. i. 93.
  • 3. VCH Berks. iv. 411; W. H. Black, Docquets of Letters Patent, 205; Salisbury Cathedral Lib. Bp. Seth Ward, Liber Notitiae, f. 53; CSP Dom. 1668 9, PP. 108-9; Wood’s Life and Times (Oxf. Hist. Soc. xxi), 311.