Arthur Ingram
| Sir Arthur Ingram | |
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| Member of Parliament for York | |
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In office 1624–1629 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | ca. 1565 York |
| Died | 1642 |
| Residence | Yorkshire |
Sir Arthur Ingram (ca. 1565 – 1642) was an English investor, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1610 and 1642. Responsible for the construction, purchase and sale of many manor houses and estates in Yorkshire, the Ingram family are most associated with Temple Newsam which became the seat of the wealthy family for over 300 years.
The date of Sir Arthur Ingram's birth is not known. He was son of Hugh Ingram, originally a native of Thorpe-on-the-Hill in Yorkshire. A tallowchandler, Hugh Ingram prospered sufficiently to have his eldest son trained as a civil lawyer at Cambridge. Arthur Ingram's mother was Anne, daughter of Richard Goldthorpe, haberdasher, Lord Mayor of and M.P. for York.
Little is known of Arthur Ingram's early years. He is recorded as being a merchant in London. In 1604, he was appointed Comptroller of Customs of the Port of London and on 21 October 1607, this office was conferred on him for life.
In 1605, he took over the management of the wine licence patent for Lord Admiral Nottingham, who gratefully recalled that 'the whole and many pains and scandals of the business did ever since the beginning thereof lie upon Mr. Arthur Ingram only, with an incessant trouble to him and his house'.
Ingram's next major step, in 1607, was a partnership with Sir Walter Cope for the sale of Crown lands, which enabled him to purchase a number of the best estates for himself.
In buying land, his practice was to pay half the purchase-money down. After this, he would argue about the validity of the title to the estate, leaving the vendor with the choice of settling at an unfavourable price or of taking out a case in the Court of Chancery. At one time Ingram had no less than 21 lawsuits in progress. These practices ensured he remained in control of several large scale purchases, though they undoubtedly lost him friends.
Ingram was knighted on 9 July 1613.
His marriages were shrewdly made. In 1613 he defeated 'an army of suitors' to capture a wealthy City widow, Alice Halliday. The marriage was short-lived, as Alice died in 1614. Ingram's third marriage in 1615 brought him gentry connections and a Warwickshire estate in lieu of a dowry; but he was sufficiently fastidious to insist on the precondition of 'mutual liking', which proved sincere and lasting. His wife was Mary Greville, daughter of Sir Edward Greville of Milcote.
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