Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Elsynge, Henry

by Nigel Douglas Frith Pearce

ELSYNGE, HENRY (1598–1654), clerk of the House of Commons, eldest son of Henry Elsynge, was born at Battersea in 1598, educated at Westminster under L. Osbeldiston, and entered Christ Church, Oxford, as a commoner, 1621, proceeding B.A. 1625. After spending seven years in foreign travel, Archbishop Laud procured him the appointment of clerk of the House of Commons, where his services were highly valued, especially during the Long parliament. In 1648 he resigned his appointment to avoid taking part in the proceedings against Charles I (Whitelocke, Memorials, 1732, p. 364), and retired to Hounslow in Middlesex, where he died, and was buried in St. Margaret's, Westminster, 1654. Elsynge was a man of considerable learning and ability and a good scholar. Whitelocke and Selden were among his friends. His works are:

1. 'Of the Form and Manner of Holding a Parliament in England,' 1663 (apparently derived from a manuscript in eight chapters, of similar scope, written by his father, 1626; the third edition was published in 1675, and a new and enlarged edition, edited by Tyrwhitt, in 1768).
2. 'A Tract concerning Proceedings in Parliament.'
3. 'A Declaration or Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom,' 1642 (re-printed in Rushworth's 'Historical Collection,' vol. iv., and in E. Husband's 'Remonstrances,' 1643, p. 195).
4. 'Method of Passing Bills in Parliament,' 1685 (reprinted in 'Harleian Miscellany').

[Kippis's Biog. Brit. 1793, v. 586; Wood's Athenæ, ed. Bliss, iii. 363; Wood's Fasti, i. 231; Rushworth's Historical Collection, 1659, vol. iv.; E. Husband's Remonstrances, 1646, p. 195; Watt's Bibl. Brit. 1824, p. 335.]

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