Francis Knollys (admiral)

For other people named Francis Knollys, see Francis Knollys (disambiguation).

Sir Francis Knollys (c. 1552 – 1648) was an English privateer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1575 and 1648.

Life

Knollys was the son of Sir Francis Knollys, of Greys Court in Oxfordshire, and of Reading, in Berkshire, and his wife, Catherine Carey and was generally known as Francis Knollys the younger. He attended Magdalen College, Oxford in and around 1564. He was a student of Gray's Inn in 1565.

In December 1575 Knollys was elected Member of Parliament for Oxford following the death of Edward Knollys, and held the seat unit 1589. In those early years he was involved in piracy with Sir Francis Drake, serving as a rear-admiral on privateering activities in the Caribbean, returning in 1586 with considerable booty. He soon after served with his brother-in-law, the Earl of Leicester, in the Netherlands campaign and was knighted by him at Flushing on 7 December 1587.

Knollys was once again elected MP in 1597, this time for Berkshire. He was awarded MA at Oxford on 10 July 1598. In 1604 he was re-elected MP for Berkshire and sat until 1611. He was elected MP for Berkshire again in 1625. In April 1640, Knollys was re-elected MP for Reading in the Short Parliament with his son, and was re-elected for the Long Parliament in November 1640. He sat until his death in 1648.

Knollys died before May 1648 at the age of about 90, described by his colleagues as "the ancientest Parliament man in England". He was one of the oldest ever members of parliament and has the record for the longest span of service as an MP, 73 years between first being elected and his death. He was buried at St Lawrence church, Reading. He had married in 1588 Lettice Barrett, daughter of John Barrett, of Hanham in Gloucestershire. Knollys had three sons and six daughters, amongst them, Francis, Robert and Lettice who married the parliamentarian, John Hampden.

Ancestry

Family of Francis Knollys (admiral)

Sir Richard Knollys               Robert Knollys                       Margaret D'Oyley               Sir Robert Knollys                             Sir JohnTroutbeck               Elizabeth Troutbeck                       Margaret Hulse               Sir Francis Knollys                                   Sir Richard Penystone               Sir Thomas Penystone                       Margaret Herris               Lettice Penystone                             Richard Bulstrode               Alice Bulstrode                       Alice Knyffe               Sir Francis Knollys                                         Sir William Carey               Sir Thomas Carey                       Alice Furford               Sir William Carey                             Sir Robert Spencer               Margaret Spencer                       Eleanor Beaufort               Catherine Carey                                   William Boleyn               Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire                       Lady Margaret Butler               Mary Boleyn                             Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk               Lady Elizabeth Howard                       Elizabeth Tilney

References

• 1593: Sir Henry Unton; Sir Humphrey Forster
• 1597–1598 (elected 26 September 1597): Sir Henry Norreys (II); Francis Knollys
• 1601: Sir Richard Lovelace; George Hyde (Knight of the Bath)

Parliament of England
Preceded by Edward Knollys	Member of Parliament for Oxford 1575–1589	Succeeded by
Preceded by Sir Henry Unton Sir Humphrey Forster	Member of Parliament for Berkshire 1597–1598 With: Sir Henry Norreys (II)	Succeeded by Sir Richard Lovelace George Hyde (Knight of the Bath)
Preceded by Sir Richard Lovelace George Hyde	Member of Parliament for Berkshire 1604–1614 With: Sir Henry Neville	Succeeded by Edmund Dunch Sir Richard Harrison
Preceded by Edmund Dunch Sir Richard Harrison	Member of Parliament for Berkshire 1625 With: Edmund Dunch	Succeeded by Edmund Dunch John Fettiplace
Preceded by Parliament suspended since 1629	Member of Parliament for Reading 1640–1648 With: Sir Francis Knollys jun. 1640–1643 Tanfield Vachell 1645–1648	Succeeded by