Ralph Whitfield
|
Sir Ralph Whitfield KS MP |
|
|---|---|
|
Member of Parliament for Clitheroe |
|
|
In office 1624–1625 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1588 Tenterden, Kent, England |
| Died | 1645 City of London, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Spouse(s) | Dorothy Spelman |
| Residence | Barbican, London |
| Alma mater | Gray's Inn |
| Profession | Lawyer, legislator, judge, landowner |
Sir Ralph Whitfield (1588 – 1645) was an English lawyer, judge and landowner, who sat as a Member of Parliament and held several public offices.
Baptised on 3 March 1588 at the church of St Mildred in Tenterden, Kent,
he was the eldest surviving son of Herbert Whitfield (1560-1622), a landowner, and his wife Martha Sheppard (-1613), second daughter of Robert Sheppard of Peasmarsh in Sussex and his wife Agnes Birchet from Rye. His great-grandfather Robert Whitfield (about 1453-1541), from Alston Moor in Cumberland, had settled at Wadhurst in Sussex and a great-uncle had built the historic house of Rowfant at Worth.
Trained in law at Gray's Inn, where he was admitted on 3 February 1608, by 1621 he was acting as counsel for the Cinque Ports and in 1622 inherited his father's estate. As a landowner he was appointed to the Commission of Sewers (the drainage authority) for Kent and for Sussex. He also served on county commissions against piracy and recusancy. By 1625 he was a Justice of the Peace for Kent and for Sussex.
In 1624 he was elected Member of Parliament for Clitheroe in Lancashire and had an active term, sitting on several committees and speaking on several issues, until he was replaced in 1625. In November 1632 he was appointed a Serjeant-at-law and by 1633 was permanent counsel to the Cinque Ports, being made a King's Serjeant in 1635. On 4 October 1635 he was knighted at Hampton Court Palace and appointed a judge of oyer and terminer and of gaol delivery for London and Middlesex.
In addition to his judicial work in England, he was involved in colonial ventures overseas. In 1627 he was a founder member of the Guiana Company, set up by royal patent to trade with the Amazon basin and north coast of South America, while in 1638 he headed a royal commission on the plantation of The Honourable The Irish Society in County Londonderry on the north coast of Ireland.
...
Wikipedia