A member of Gray's Inn, Knightley was a member of a prominent Northamptonshire family who had married (in about 1637) Elizabeth Hampden, daughter of John Hampden, the leading opponent of Charles I. His cousin, also called Richard, had been MP for Northamptonshire and one of Hampden's parliamentary allies before the King dismissed Parliament in 1629. Like the rest of his family, Knightley's religious inclinations were Puritan.
When Parliament was at last summoned once more in 1640, Knightley was elected MP for Northampton. He aligned himself with the opposition, and it was at Fawsley that John Pym and other leading anti-Royalists met, presumably to discuss policy, after the dissolution of the Short Parliament. He represented Northampton again in the Long Parliaments, adhering to the Parliamentary cause when civil war broke out, and sat until he was excluded in Pride's Purge. He subsequently represented Northamptonshire in the Parliament of 1659. In 1660 he was a member of the council which arranged the recall of Charles II, and was MP for St Germans in the Convention Parliament.
As a mark of gratitude, Charles made Knightley a Knight of the Bath in June 1661, but he died shortly afterwards. His contemporary Edmund Ludlow suggested that the "popish and superstitious ceremonyes" involved in admission to the Order contributed to his death, as he
having some remaynder of conscience, scrupled for a while the bowing at the altar, and, being prevayled with to doe it, was so troubled for having done it that (as it was supposed) it was a meanes to shorten his dayes."
Referencesedit
Concise Dictionary of National Biography (1930)
D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
J T Cliffe, The Puritan Gentry Besieged 1650-1700 (Routledge, 1993)
richard, knightley, 1617, 1661, other, people, named, richard, knightley, richard, knightley, disambiguation, richard, knightley, 1617, 1661, fawsley, northamptonshire, english, member, parliament, member, gray, knightley, member, prominent, northamptonshire, . For other people named Richard Knightley see Richard Knightley disambiguation Sir Richard Knightley KB 1617 1661 of Fawsley in Northamptonshire was an English Member of Parliament MP A member of Gray s Inn Knightley was a member of a prominent Northamptonshire family who had married in about 1637 Elizabeth Hampden daughter of John Hampden the leading opponent of Charles I His cousin also called Richard had been MP for Northamptonshire and one of Hampden s parliamentary allies before the King dismissed Parliament in 1629 Like the rest of his family Knightley s religious inclinations were Puritan When Parliament was at last summoned once more in 1640 Knightley was elected MP for Northampton He aligned himself with the opposition and it was at Fawsley that John Pym and other leading anti Royalists met presumably to discuss policy after the dissolution of the Short Parliament He represented Northampton again in the Long Parliaments adhering to the Parliamentary cause when civil war broke out and sat until he was excluded in Pride s Purge He subsequently represented Northamptonshire in the Parliament of 1659 In 1660 he was a member of the council which arranged the recall of Charles II and was MP for St Germans in the Convention Parliament As a mark of gratitude Charles made Knightley a Knight of the Bath in June 1661 but he died shortly afterwards His contemporary Edmund Ludlow suggested that the popish and superstitious ceremonyes involved in admission to the Order contributed to his death as he having some remaynder of conscience scrupled for a while the bowing at the altar and being prevayled with to doe it was so troubled for having done it that as it was supposed it was a meanes to shorten his dayes References editConcise Dictionary of National Biography 1930 D Brunton amp D H Pennington Members of the Long Parliament London George Allen amp Unwin 1954 J T Cliffe The Puritan Gentry Besieged 1650 1700 Routledge 1993 Leigh Rayment s Peerage Pages self published source better source needed nbsp nbsp This article about a 17th century Member of the Parliament of England up to 1707 is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Richard Knightley 1617 1661 amp oldid 975874345, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
