Philip Sherard (MP)

The Hon. Philip Sherard (17 November 1623 – 1695) was an English soldier, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1685.

The Honourable Philip Sherard
Member of Parliament for Rutland
In office 1660–1685 Serving with Samuel Browne, Edward Noel, Sir Abel Barker, Sir Thomas Mackworth, Edward Fawkener
Preceded by	Sir James Harington Thomas Waite
Succeeded by	Baptist Noel Sir Thomas Mackworth
Personal details
Born	(1623-11-17)17 November 1623
Died	1695(1695-00-00) (aged 71–72)
Spouse(s)	Margaret Eure ​ ( m. after 1645)
Relations	4, including Philip Sherard, 2nd Earl of Harborough (grandson)
Children	Bennet Sherard
Parents	William Sherard, 1st Baron Sherard Abigail Cave
Alma mater	St John's College, Oxford

Early life

Sherard was born on 17 November 1623 as the younger son of William Sherard, 1st Baron Sherard (1588–1640) and his wife Abigail Cave (1593–1659).[1][2] His older brother was Bennet Sherard, 2nd Baron Sherard, who sat as MP for Leicestershire and served as Lord Lieutenant of Rutland.[3] His nephew was Bennet Sherard, 1st Earl of Harborough.[4] His mother, the widow of Henry Tresham (with whom she had several sons), was a daughter of Cecil Cave and Anne (nee Bennett) Cave.[5]

He was a student at St John's College, Oxford in 1639, and travelled abroad in Italy in 1641.[6]

Career

Sherard went abroad with his brother shortly before the Civil War, where he became a captain in the Dutch army. He enjoyed field sports and settled at the family estate of Whissendine, Rutland, holding no local office until the Restoration.[6]

In 1660, Sherard was elected Member of Parliament for Rutland in the Convention Parliament. He was one of those proposed as Knight of the Royal Oak, and his estate had a yearly income of £600. In 1661, he was re-elected MP for Rutland in the Cavalier parliament, probably without a contest. He was re-elected in the two elections for the First and Second Exclusion Parliaments and again in 1681.[6]

In 1682, he was removed from local office, and took no further part in politics, his son Bennet replacing him as knight of the shire in the Convention.[6]

Personal life

In 1645, Sherard was married to Margaret Eure, widow of both John Pulteney of Misterton, Leicestershire and a Cavalier Col. Hon. William Eure of Old Malton (son of Lord Eure), and daughter of Sir Thomas Denton of Hillesden, Buckinghamshire.[1][7] Margaret converted to Protestantism. Together, they were the parents of three sons and one daughter, including:

• Bennet Sherard (1649–1701), who was also MP for Rutland.[6]
• Philip Sherard, who married and had issue.[5]
• Denton Sherard.[5]
• Abigail Sherard (b. 1652), who married John Pickering, Esq. (1654–1703) and had issue.[8]

Sherard died at the age of 71 and was buried at Whissendine on 4 March 1695.[6]

Descendants

Through his son Bennet, he was a grandfather of Philip Sherard, 2nd Earl of Harborough (c. 1680–1750), who inherited the Harborough earldom through special remainder,[9] and Margaret Sherard, the wife of The Most Rev. John Gilbert, Archbishop of York.[10]

References

1. Visitation of the County of Rutland
2. "Collections Online | Abigail, Baroness Sherard". www.britishmuseum.org. British Museum. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
3. "SHERARD, Bennet, 2nd Baron Sherard of Leitrim [I] (1621-1700), of Stapleford, Leics". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
4. Doyle, James Edmund (1886). The Official Baronage of England: Gainsborough-Oxford. Longmans, Green. p. 110. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
5. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1898. p. 1316. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
6. "SHERARD, Hon. Philip (1623-95), of Whissendine, Rutland". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
7. Memoirs of the Verney Family: Memoirs of the Verney family during the civil war ... by Frances Parthenope Verney. Longmans, Green, and Company. 1892. p. 442. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
8. "Papers of the Pickering family - Egerton of Tatton Muniments - Archives Hub". archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk. University of Manchester Library. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
9. "Harborough, Earl of (GB, 1719 - 1859)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
10. "Gilbert, John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10692. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Parliament of England
Preceded by Sir James Harington Thomas Waite	Member of Parliament for Rutland 1660–1685 With: Samuel Browne 1660–1661 Sir Thomas Mackworth 1679–1679 Sir Abel Barker 1679–1680 Sir Thomas Mackworth 1680–1681 Edward Fawkener 1681–1685	Succeeded by Baptist Noel Sir Thomas Mackworth