Samuel Luke

Sir Samuel Luke (21 March 1603[1] – 30 August 1670) sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1653 and in 1660, and was an officer in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War.

Life

Luke was born 21 March 1603 and baptised at six days old in Southill, Bedfordshire.[1] He was the son of Sir Oliver Luke MP and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Sir Valentine Knightley of Fawsley, Northants. He attended Eton from 1617 to 1619 and travelled abroad in 1623.[2] He was knighted on 20 July 1624. In April 1640, Luke was elected Member of Parliament for Bedford in the Short Parliament and was re-elected for the Long Parliament in November 1640.[2] In the latter election he is known to have had the support of much of John Bunyan's future congregation.[3]

Luke was governor of the Parliamentary outpost in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire from late 1642 until June 1644 during the English Civil War [4] During the war he was also Scoutmaster to the Earl of Essex.[4][lower-alpha 1] He subscribed to the Solemn League and Covenant and in 1648 was secluded from the Long Parliament under Pride's Purge.[5]

Luke inherited the family estate on the death of his father in 1651.[2] In April 1660, he was re-elected MP for Bedford in the Convention Parliament.[2] He died in 1670 and was buried on 30 August in Cople, Bedfordshire.[2]

Mention in literature

It is thought that Sir Samuel Luke was the basis for the title character of the satirical heroic poem Hudibras (1662) by Samuel Butler.[2]

Family

On 2 February 1624, Luke married Elizabeth, daughter of William Freeman, haberdasher and merchant, of London.[2]

Notes
  1. William Everard, who went on to be a leader of the Diggers, was one of Luke's scouts.
  1. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
  2. Helms, Naylor & Jaggar 1983.
  3. Hirst 1975, pp. 123-4.
  4. Tibbutt 1959, pp. 91-92.
  5. Parliament of Great Britain 1753, pp. 13, 14.
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References
  • Parliament of Great Britain (1753). The parliamentary or constitutional history of England;: being a faithful account of all the most remarkable transactions in Parliament, from the earliest times. Collected from the journals of both Houses, the records, ... 9. Printed; and sold by William Sandby. pp. 13, 14.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Helms, M. W.; Naylor, Leonard; Jaggar, Geoffrey (1983), "Luke, Sir Samuel (1603-70), of Woodend, Cople, Beds", in Henning, B.D. (ed.), The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, History of Parliament Online
  • Hirst, Derek (1975). The Representative of the People?: Votes and Voting in England under the Early Stuarts. pp. 123–4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Tibbutt, H.G. (1959). "The Civil War Letter-Books of Sir Samuel Luke". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 37 (150): 91–92.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Parliament of England
Preceded by
Parliament suspended since 1629		 Member of Parliament for Bedford
1640–1648
With: Sir Beauchamp St John		 Succeeded by
Sir Beauchamp St John
Richard Edwards
Preceded by
Not represented in Restored Rump		 Member of Parliament for Bedford
1660–1661
With: Humphrey Winch		 Succeeded by
Richard Taylor
John Kelynge
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