Col. John Tynte, MP

Family and Education b. 11 Dec. 1617, 1st s. of Edward Tynte of Chelvey by Anne, da. of Sir Edward Gorges of Wraxall. educ. Exeter, Oxf. 1635. m. (1) by 1649, Jane, da. and h. of Hugh Halswell of Halswell, Goathurst, preb. of Winchester, 1s.; (2) lic. 19 May 1663, Frances, da. of John Trenchard of Saltford, Som., s.p. suc. fa. 1629.1

Offices Held

Col. of horse (royalist) 1643-4.2

J.p. Som. 1643-5, July 1660-d., commr. for assessment Aug. 1660-9, sewers Dec. 1660, loyal and indigent officers 1662.3

Biography Tynte’s ancestors rose from the yeomanry only with the purchase of Chelvey in the late 16th century. Tynte was a Cavalier in the Civil War, compounding in 1646 on a fine of £540, though less than a third of his estate (valued at £222 p.a.) was in hand, and that was extended for a debt of £1,400. A timely legacy of £1,000 from an all uncle ‘to repair the ancient house of his ancestors’ must have helped him materially, and he was able to marry an heiress. He was reported to have visited Charles II in Jersey in 1649, but he dissociated himself from Penruddock’s rising and lent £50 to the Protectorate in return for exemption from the decimation tax. At the Restoration, nevertheless, he was proposed for the order of the Royal Oak with an income of £1,000 p.a. His father-in-law was a Hampshire clergyman; but the Halswell estate carried a good interest at Bridgwater, four miles away. Hence Tynte, as heir-presumptive, was returned for the borough in 1661, the first of the family to sit in Parliament. An inactive Member of the Cavalier Parliament, he was appointed to only eight committees, of which the most important were for the corporations bill and the bill against schismatics in the first session. His nuncupative will is dated 20 Aug. 1669, and he was buried at Goathurst six days later.4

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690 Author: Irene Cassidy Notes 1. Sales of Wards (Som. Rec. Soc. lxvii), 73; Collinson, Som. ii. 317; Som. Wills, vi. 90-91. 2. SP23/187/238; List of Officers Claiming (1663), 133. 3. Q. Sess. Recs. (Som. Rec. Soc. xxxiv), p. xx; C181/7/27; D. Underdown, Som. in the Civil War , 90-91, 181. 4. SP23/187/231, 235; HMC Portland, ii. 589; CSP Dom. 1655-6, p. 312; 1656-7, p. 235; Som. Wills, vi. 90; The Gen. n.s. ii. 97