Col. in the Parl, army 1643; and one of the Parl, officers in attendance upon the King 4 June 1647.([1]) M.P. for co. Cambridge, in the Long Pari., 28 Nov. 1645 to 1648 (when he was secluded), and 12 July 1654. Gov. of Ely 1645, and of the Channel Islands 1648. He was sum. to the "Other House," 10 Dec. 1657, and took his seat, as "Francis Lord Russell," 20 Jan. 1657/8; he also sat in Richard Cromwell's House of Lords. [2] He m., 19 Sep. 1631, at Chippenham, Katherine,[3] da. and h, of John Wheatley, of Catsfield, Sussex, Bar.-at-Law, by Elizabeth, da. and coh. of Michael Smallpage, of Chichester (the said Elizabeth being the 3rd wife of his father, the 1st Bart.). He was bur. 30 Apr. 1664, at Chippenham.
ST. JOHN
[27] Oliver St. John[4] of Longthorpe, Northants, and Enfield, Midx.,[5] 1st s. of Oliver St. J., of Cayshoe,[6] Beds (who was s. and h. of Thomas, 3rd s. of Oliver (St. John), 1st Baron St. John of Bletso, cr. 1559), by Sarah, da. of Edward Buckley, of Odell, in the same co. He was b. about 1598; entered Queens' Coll., Cambridge, as a pensioner, 16 Aug. 1 61 5; admitted Lincoln's Inn 22 Apr. 1619; called to the Bar 22 June 1626; Solicitor Gen. 29 Jan. 1640/1; Treasurer of Lincoln's Inn . 1642. He was sent to the Tower in Nov. 1629, threatened with the rack, and brought before the Star Chamber, but subsequently pardoned. M.P. for Totnes 3 Mar. to May 1640; and, in the Long Parl., 3 Nov. 1640-1653. He led the attack on Ship-money, 7 Jan. 1640/1; and promoted the Bill for Strafford's attainder, 22 Mar. 1 640/1. Commissioner of the Great Seal 10 Nov. 1643 to 30 Oct. 1646; member of the Committee of Both Kingdoms 16 Feb. 1643/4; Attorney Gen. 28 May 1644 to 1648; Commissioner to treat with the King at Uxbridge Jan. 1644/5; Chief Justice of the Common Pleas 12 Oct. 1648; Councillor of State
- ↑ (a) Ludlow writes: "Col. Francis Russell and others, attending on the King, became soon converted by the splendour of his majesty." (Memoirs, vol. i, p. 151).
- ↑ (b) " Knight baronet of the old stamp, a gentleman of Cambridgeshire, of a considerable revenue ... a man high flown, but not serious or substantial in his principles; no great zealot for the cause." (Second Narrative of the late Parliament).
- ↑ (c) Their 1st da., Elizabeth Russell, became the wife of Henry Cromwell, Lord Deputy of Ireland. (See under Cromwell, p. 600). Sir John Russell, 3rd Bart., m., as her 2nd husband, that delightful little minx, Frances Cromwell, widow of Lord Rich, yst. da. of Oliver, the Lord Protector.
- ↑ (d) He bore for arms : Silver a chief Gules with two pierced molets Gold.
- ↑ (e) He was a rate-payer at Enfield in 1654; and "Mrs Elizabeth St. John, da. to the Right Honble Oliver St. John," was married there to John Bernard "before her said father, and by him declared man and wife," 26 Feb. 1655/6. (Lysons' Environs, vol. ii, p. 319).
- ↑ (f) Clarendon calls him " a natural son of the house of Bullingbrook " (Hist, of the Rebellion, Book iii, § 32), but in the Admission Reg. of Lincoln's Inn he is entered as " Oliver St. John, son and heir app. of Oliver St. J., of Cayshoe, Beds, arm.," and there seems no reason to doubt his legitimacy.
