Sir Edward Harley KB (21 October 1624 – 18 December 1700) was an English Parliamentarian. He was born in Brampton Bryan, Herefordshire, the son of Sir Robert Harley, KB and his third wife Brilliana, the daughter of Edward Conway, 1st Viscount Conway.[1] Educated at Shrewsbury, Gloucester, and Magdelen Hall, Oxford, he studied law, but took up arms in the Parliamentary cause against the King in 1642, though disapproving of military supremacy in the nation. He was shot in the arm during a skirmish in Gloucestershire in August 1644.[2] By 1646 he was a member of Parliament for his native county, but his opposition to Cromwell brought about his banishment from it for 10 years, though he was rewarded at the Restoration by Charles II, who made him Governor of Dunkirk (1660). Despite his changes of front (for he was against the Stuarts once more at the revolution of 1688), Harley was a conscientious upholder of the rights of the people, who showed their appreciation by sending him continuously to Parliament. Though a churchman himself, he fought against any form of persecution of the dissenters, was without party prejudice, and was remembered more for his practical benefactions than for such theoretical performances.

He married and had two sons, Robert Harley (later Earl of Oxford) and Edward Harley (1664–1735); and two daughters Elizabeth and Abigail.

Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Harley_(Parliamentarian)