Sir Rowland St John, KB, MP

Family and Education bap. 6 Oct. 1588,1 5th s. of Oliver St. John†, 3rd Bar. St. John of Bletsoe (d.1618) and Dorothy, da. of John Rede†, of Boddinton, Glos.; bro. of Sir Alexander*, Sir Anthony*, Sir Beauchamp*, Sir Henry* and Oliver I*.2 educ. Queens’, Camb. 1604, MA (St. John’s) 1614;3 travelled abroad (France, Germany, Italy) 1609-12;4 L. Inn 1642.5 m. Feb. 1619 (with £1,500), Sybil (d.1656), da. of John Vaughan of Hargest, Herefs., wid. of Matthew Small of Paddington, Mdx., 1s. 2da.6 KB 3 Nov. 1616.7 d. 5 Aug. 1645.8

Offices Held

Member, embassy to Madrid 1617.9

J.p. Mdx. 1620-5, Northants. 1622-d.;10 dep. lt. Northants. 1626-d.;11 commr. martial law, Northants. 1627-8,12 recusants’ lands 1627,13 sewers 1627-34, Lincs. and Hunts. 1631-41;14 trustee of Finedon sch. Northants. 1631;15 commr. oyer and terminer, Northants. 1640-44,16 perambulation of Rockingham forest, Northants. 1641,17 defence of Midland Assoc. 1642, assessment Northants. 1643-d., sequestration 1643, levying money 1643, New Model Ordinance 1645.18

Biography St. John was a younger son of a large, wealthy, and influential family.19 Returned for Higham Ferrers, eight miles from Bletsoe, in 1614, he left no trace on the records of the Addled Parliament. In 1617 he accompanied the embassy of Sir John Digby* to Spain, but probably returned to England on his father’s death the following year. Shortly thereafter he married a wealthy widow who brought him £1,500 in cash and leases worth £600 p.a.20 This enabled St. John to buy the manor of Woodford, about five miles south-west of Northampton, in 1622, which became his principal residence.21 At the funeral of James I he carried a standard as substitute for Walter Montagu.22 He was probably returned to the first Caroline Parliament for Tiverton on the recommendation of Sir Francis Russell*, lord lieutenant of Devon, with whom he was associated in the Fenland drainage enterprise.23 On 23 June 1625 he was ordered to attend a conference on the petition for a fast, and on the following day named to the committee to consider the heads of the petition on religion. He was appointed to committees for bills to facilitate subscription (27 June) and to oblige public accountants to swear to the truth of their accounts (6 August).24

St. John does not seem to have stood again, though he remained active in local affairs. As a j.p. he was unenthusiastic about enforcing the Benevolence of 1626, and returned a vague account of its reception in the eastern division of Northamptonshire ‘lest by descending too far into particulars something should be fastened upon which may produce an unexpected prejudice’. It is therefore unsurprising that his name was omitted from the Forced Loan commission the following year.25 Along with his fellow magistrates he complained at Northamptonshire’s Ship Money assessment in 1638.26 He presented the Northamptonshire petition to the Long Parliament of 14 Feb. 1642, and thereafter was a moderate parliamentarian, serving on the Northamptonshire committee of the Eastern Association.27 He died on 5 Aug. 1645 and was buried at Woodford.28 In his will, dated 9 Oct. 1644, he left to his widow his share in the Bedford Level.29 His grandson Sir Andrew St. John sat for Northamptonshire from 1690 to 1698.

Ref Volumes: 1604-1629 Authors: Virginia C.D. Moseley / Rosemary Sgroi Notes 1. Southill (Beds. par. reg. xlii), 8. 2. Vis. Beds. (Harl. Soc. xix), 194. 3. Al. Cant. 4. SO3/4; CSP Dom. 1611-18, p. 24; Carleton to Chamberlain ed. M. Lee, 123. 5. LI Admiss. 6. PROB 11/132, ff. 367-70; 11/212, f. 225v-226v; Chamberlain Letters ed. N.E. McClure, ii. 213; Bridges, Northants. ii. 266, 268. 7. Shaw, Knights of Eng. i. 160. 8. Bridges, Northants. ii. 268. 9. SP94/22/241. 10. C231/4, ff. 102, 136; T. Rymer, Foedera, viii. pt. 2, p. 12; SP16/405, f. 47; Q.S. Recs. ed. J. Wake (Northants. Rec. Soc. i), 1. 11. CSP Dom. 1625-6, p. 328; HMC Montagu, 122. 12. APC, 1627-8, p. 299; CSP Dom. 1627-8, p. 567. 13. CSP Dom. 1627-8, p. 214. 14. C181/3, f. 218; 181/4, ff. 93v, 140, 180; 181/5, ff. 9v, 214v. 15. C78/411/4. 16. C181/5, ff. 182v, 243. 17. Ibid. f. 209. 18. A. and O. i. 50, 93, 115, 150, 233, 528, 546, 620, 636. 19. PROB 11/132, ff. 348v-9v. 20. Chamberlain Letters, ii. 213. 21. VCH Northants. iii. 256, 261. 22. Lansd. 885, f. 117v; J. Nichols, Progs. of Jas. I, iv. 1042. 23. PROB 11/212, f. 225v-6v. 24. Procs. 1625, pp. 228, 241, 253, 411. 25. Beds. RO, St. John ms 1296; R. Cust, Forced Loan, 9, 98. 26. CSP Dom. 1638-9, p. 464; 1639, pp. 89, 184. 27. HMC Buccleuch, i. 290; Luke Letter Bks. ed. H.B. Tibbutt (Beds. Rec. Soc. xlii), 368, 375, 378, 447, 463, 465, 527, 534, 535, 616. 28. Bridges, ii. 268. 29. PROB 11/212, f. 225v-6v.

1644
Sir Rowland St John [very poor quality image]
In the name of God Amen the
?n of ? anno Dni one thousand six hundred forty foure I Sir Rowland St John of
Woodford, in the county of Northamtonshire, Knight of the Bath, being in good health of body and mind and
in perfect memory praised be to the Lord my God etc Doe make and ordaine
this my last will and testament in manner and forme following; vis etc [glory be to god section]
[[family names only, will blotched & difficult to read] Nephew John Wood[es], Lord St John, daughter Nicolls [portion already paid], daughter Alston [portion already paid], dearest beloved wife, cosen Oliver St John of Keysoe, cosen John St John of Co? in the county of Leicestershire, sonne Oliver St John, [various servants, bequests to poor], grandchildren [not named], Godchildren [not named], all my brothers and sisters not named], son [in law] Nicolls & son[in law] Alston, nephew Silvanous Wood, brothers Alexander St John & Beauchamp St John, brother Earl of Bollingbroke, dearly beloved wife executrix, Witnesses: Alexander St John, Thomas Caston, James Pennington.
Proved in London to Dame Sibella St John, relict.