Charles Boscawen, MP

Family and Education bap. 28 Oct. 1627, 4th s. of Hugh Boscawen of Tregothnam by Margaret, da. of Robert Rolle of Heanton Satchville, Devon; bro. of Edward Boscawen and Hugh Boscawen. educ. I. Temple 1646. unm.2

Offices Held

Commr. for assessment, Cornw. 1652, 1657, Jan. 1660-3, 1664-79, 1689, militia 1659, Mar. 1660, j.p. Mar.-July 1660, capt. of militia ft. Apr. 1660.3

Biography Boscawen, who had been too young to take any part in the Civil War, no doubt shared the Presbyterian and parliamentarian sympathies of the rest of his family. He held a number of local offices during the Protectorates and was returned to the 1654 Parliament for Cornwall and to Richard Cromwell’s Parliament for Truro. With his brother Hugh he was one of the 37 Cornish gentlemen who met at Truro in December 1659 to issue a proclamation in favour of a free Parliament. After the Restoration he took no further part in politics until 1688, when the Earl of Bath recommended that he should be ‘treated with’ for his interest. In 1689 he was returned on the family interest for Tregony, although he was described by Roger Morrice as ‘a melancholy man and not fit to be deputed’ by his brother to greet the Prince of Orange. He died shortly afterwards.4

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690 Author: Paula Watson Notes 1. New writ. 2. Vivian, Vis. Cornw. 46-68; Collins, Peerage, vi. 66. 3. Parl. Intell. 9 Apr. 1660. 4. M. Coate, Cornw. in Gt. Civil War, 301; R. Morrice, Entering Bk. 2, p. 333