WYNDHAM, Sir Charles (1638-1706), of Cranbury House, Hursley, Hants.

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

Constituency

Dates

Oct. 1679
31 Dec. 1689

Family and Education

bap. 2 Apr. 1638, 4th but 2nd surv. s. of (Sir) Edmund Wyndham, and bro. of Sir Hugh Wyndham and Thomas Wyndham I. m. 19 June 1665, James (d. 31 May 1720), da. and h. of James Young of Winchester, gent. of the privy chamber to Charles I, 10s. 7da. Kntd. by 15 Sept. 1662.1

Offices Held

Page to Charles II bef. 1660; sewer to Queen Catherine of Braganza by 1669, gent. usher of privy chamber by 1687-94.2

Cornet, R. Horse Gds. (The Blues) 1661, lt. 1667, capt. 1685-9.

Freeman, Guildford 1662, Winchester by 1666, Portsmouth 1678; commr. for assessment, Hants 1667-80, 1689-90, j.p. 1682-d., dep. lt. 1683-9; commr. for inquiry, New Forest 1691-4.3

Biography

Wyndham went abroad with his parents at the end of the Civil War and became page to his foster-brother. He continued his career at Court after the Restoration, and was also given a commission in the guards and a knighthood. His wife’s uncle had been dean of Winchester, and it was through her that he acquired Cranbury, some eight miles north of Southampton. He earned himself much local popularity as ‘a zealous assertor of the tenants’ rights’ against their landlord, the exiled Protector. He stood for Southampton as a court supporter in the Exclusion elections; defeated in the first, he was successful in the second and third, but he made no speeches and was not appointed to any committees.4

Wyndham was re-elected in 1685, and became an active Member of James II’s Parliament, being appointed to eight committees and acting as teller in three divisions. On 3 June he was added to the committee to recommend expunctions from the Journals, but on the news of Monmouth’s action he resumed command of his troop, which he led at the battle of Sedgemoor. He was among those appointed to draw up the address against the employment of Roman Catholic officers in the second session, but gave affirmative answers to the lord lieutenant’s questions on the repeal of the Test Act and Penal Laws. The King’s electoral agents expected him to be chosen again at Southampton, but he lost his commission at the Revolution and probably did not contest the general election of 1689. On the death of Richard Brett, however, he stood against Edward Fleming, and was awarded the seat on petition. Although he was a Member of the Convention for less than a month, he was a very active committeeman. He was named to seven committees, of which the most important was to impose an oath of allegiance to the new regime on all adults. His voting record under William III was inconsistent, but he signed the Association without demur. He died on 22 July 1706, and was buried at Hursley. No later member of this branch of the Wyndham family entered Parliament.5

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: Paula Watson

Notes

  • 1. H. A. Wyndham, Fam. Hist. i. 175-8; Mems. St. Margaret’s Westminster, 157; J. Marsh, Mems. Hursley, 39, 45-46; Add. 6167, f. 207v.
  • 2. CSP Dom. 1661-2, p. 631.
  • 3. Add. 6167, f. 207v; Winchester corp. assembly bk. 5, f. 31; R. East, Portsmouth Recs. 363; Cal. Treas. Bks. ix. 1384, 1549, 1550; x. 700; CSP Dom. Jan.-July 1683, p. 155.
  • 4. Cal. Cl. SP, iv. 113; VCH Hants, iii. 419-20.
  • 5. HMC Stafford-Sackville, i. 13, 18; Marsh, 46.