Henry Baynton, MP

Family and Education

• Younger son of Sir Edward Baynton† of Bromham by his 2nd wife Isabel, daughter of Sir John Leigh of Stockwell, Surrey; half-brother of Andrew and Sir Edward.
• m. Anne, daughter of either Sir William Cavendish of Chatsworth, Derbyshire [2] or Sir Richard Cavendish of Nottinghamshire, 3 sons[3]

Offices Held

• Capt. of light horse, Wiltshire 1586.[4]

Biography

Baynton was a younger son who made a fortunate marriage. The settlement kept him on a pretty tight rein, his wife controlling the house and children and providing Baynton with ‘sufficient meat and drink’ for himself and six friends. His half-brother Sir Edward gave him an annuity of £50.

First returned at a by-election for Malmesbury in time for the last session of the long 1572 Parliament (the printed list of returns is incorrect in transcribing the surname as Hunte), Baynton sat for an assortment of Wiltshire boroughs, without leaving any mark on the known proceedings of the House. It is not clear whether it was he or his nephew and namesake who sat for Devizes in 1593. It would be natural for a young man who became head of the family to wish to attend Parliament as soon as an opportunity arose, but the uncle’s record of attendance nicely balances the probabilities. Whoever he was, in his capacity as burgess for the borough, the 1593 Devizes MP might have served on a cloth committee appointed on 15 Mar.[5]

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: J.C.H.

Notes

• 1. Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.
• 2. Glover, Derbys. ii(1), p. 242.
• 3. Wilts. Vis. Peds. (Harl. Soc. cv, cvi), 7-8.
• 4. CSP Dom. 1581-90, p. 357.
• 5. C142/234/59; St. Ch. 5/B76/7; D’Ewes, 501.