GARRARD, Sir John, 3rd Bt. (1638-1701), of Lamer, Herts.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715, ed. D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley, 2002
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Oct. 1679 - Mar. 1681
1698 - 13 Jan. 1701

Family and Education

b. 1638, 1st s. of Sir John Garrard, 2nd Bt., of Lamer, by Jane, da. of Sir Moulton Lambarde of Sevenoaks, Kent; bro. of Sir Samuel Garrard, 4th Bt.*  educ. Christ Church, Oxf. 1657; I. Temple 1658.  m. lic. 6 May 1669, aged ‘about 25’, Katherine (d. 1702), da. and coh. of Sir James Enyon, 1st Bt., of Floore, Northants., wid. of Sir George Buswell, 1st Bt., of Clipston, Northants., 1da.  suc. fa. as 3rd Bt. 11 Mar. 1686.1

Offices Held

Sheriff, Herts. 1690–1; freeman, Hertford 1698.2

Groom porter Dec. 1699–?June 1700.3

Biography

Garrard had sat for Ludgershall in the last two Exclusion Parliaments by virtue of the influence in the borough exerted by his brother-in-law, Thomas Neale* (Garrard’s sister Elizabeth being Thomas Neale’s 2nd wife). Garrard’s connexion with Amersham also came through marriage, his daughter marrying Montagu Drake*. The death of his son-in-law shortly before the 1698 election saw Garrard take over the Drake interest in the borough. It seems that Garrard had to be ‘prevailed’ upon to stand and this led the Tory John Verney* (later Viscount Fermanagh) to question his usefulness in the Commons: ‘he is so tongue-tied by a party while he is still out of the House, that he will too readily dance after their copious consciences while he is in it’. Nevertheless, in a comparison of the old and new Parliaments compiled about September 1698 he figured as a member of the Country party and was forecast as likely to oppose the standing army. Another list of interests early in 1700 marked him with a query. On 26 Feb. 1700 his nephew Thomas Neale jnr. petitioned the Commons claiming that Garrard had opposed Neale being sworn into his father’s office as groom porter. As a trustee for Neale’s father, Garrard claimed that the reversion (which was for the life of Neale’s son) was for his own use. The committee of privileges never reported on the matter, an order for the report being put off (possibly at Garrard’s instigation) until after the end of the session. Thomas Neale jnr. died in the summer of 1700, whereupon Garrard’s patent appeared to lapse. It was by virtue of this office that Garrard appeared on a list of placemen. Garrard was cut for the stone early in January 1701, but died ‘at his lodgings in York Buildings’ on the 13th of that month, reputedly aged 62. One source stated that he had left his ‘very considerable’ estate to his brother, Samuel, although the will made his two brothers Samuel and Spencer joint executors.4

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Authors: Eveline Cruickshanks / Stuart Handley

Notes

  • 1. IGI, Herts.; Mar. Lic. Vicar-Gen. (Harl. Soc. xxiii), 164; info. from Dr D. F. Lemmings; VCH Herts. ii. 311.
  • 2. Herts. RO, Hertford bor. recs. 25/100.
  • 3. HMC Buccleuch, ii. 652.
  • 4. Verney Letters 18th Cent. i. 155; Northants. RO, Isham mss IC 1584, 1604, Justinian to Sir Justinian Isham, 4th Bt.*, 14 July 1698, 3 Jan. 1698–9; CJ, xiii. 230; Vernon–Shrewsbury Letters, ii. 393–4; HMC Buccleuch, 631–2, 638–9, 652; Luttrell, Brief Relation, v. 3, 6; English Post, 13–15 Jan. 1701; Top. and Gen. iii. 36; Clutterbuck, Herts. i. 521; PCC 5 Dyer.