William Lenthall

William Lenthall (1591 – 9 November 1662) was an English politician of the Civil War period. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons.

The second son of William Lenthall of North Leigh in Oxfordshire, a descendant of an old Herefordshire family, he was born at Henley-on-Thames. Educated at Lord Williams's School, he later left Oxford without taking a degree in 1609, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1616, becoming a bencher in 1633.

He represented in the Short Parliament (April 1640) and Long Parliament (November 1640), for which latter Parliament he was chosen by King Charles I to be Speaker. According to Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, a worse choice could not have been made, for Lenthall was of a very timorous nature. He was treated with little respect, and was unable to control the proceedings.

On 4 January 1642, however, when King Charles I entered the House of Commons to seize five 'disruptive' members, Lenthall behaved with great prudence and dignity. Having taken the speaker's chair and looked round in vain to discover the offending members, Charles turned to Lenthall standing below, and demanded of him whether any of those persons were in the House, whether he saw any of them and where they were. Lenthall fell on his knees and replied: "May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here".

This immediately led King Charles I to exercise his prerogative to dissolve the House of Commons and to the commencement of the Civil War of 1642.

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