Gilbert Kirk or Kirkeby (by 1484-1546), of Exeter, Devon, was an English Member of Parliament.
He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Exeter in 1542. He was Mayor of Exeter 1531-2 and 1539-40. [1]
Sir Arthur Champernowne was an English politician, high sheriff and soldier who lived at Dartington Hall in Devon, England.
Peter Courtenay was Bishop of Exeter (1478–87) and Bishop of Winchester (1487-92), and also had a successful political career during the tumultuous years of the Wars of the Roses.
Walter Yonge (1579–1649) of Great House in the parish of Colyton in Devon, England, was a lawyer, merchant and diarist.
Devon was a parliamentary constituency covering the county of Devon in England. It was represented by two Knights of the Shire, in the House of Commons of England until 1707, then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. Elections were held using the bloc vote system of elections.
Hartland Abbey is a former abbey and current family home to the Stucley family. It is located in Hartland, Devon. The current owner is Sir Hugh George Copplestone Bampfylde Stucley, 6th Baronet.
Sir Thomas Wise, KB, of Sydenham in the parish of Marystow and of Mount Wise in the parish of Stoke Damerel in Devon, was Sheriff of Devon in 1612 and in 1621 served as a member of parliament for Bere Alston in Devon.
John Harris (1596–1648) of Lanrest, Liskeard in Cornwall and of Radford in the parish of Plymstock in Devon, was an English gentleman who was elected four times as a Member of Parliament for Liskeard in Cornwall, between 1628 and 1644. He supported the Royalist side in the Civil War.
Christopher Harris of Lanrest in the parish of Liskeard in Cornwall, was a Member of Parliament for West Looe in Cornwall (1621). He should not be confused with his great-uncle Christopher Harris (c.1553-1625) of Radford in the parish of Plymstock in Devon, MP for Plymouth in 1584, whose heir apparent he was.
John Trefusis lord of the manor of Trefusis in the parish of Mylor in Cornwall, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1622.
Doctor George Cary (1611–1680), Professor of Sacred Theology, lord of the manor of Clovelly, Devon, was Dean of Exeter between 1663 and 1680. He was also Rector of Clovelly and of Shobrooke in Devon and Chaplain in Ordinary to King Charles II. He was one of the Worthies of Devon of John Prince.
Sir Francis Drake, 3rd Baronet (1642–1718), of Buckland Abbey in the parish of Buckland Monachorum and of Meavy, both in Devon, England, was elected seven times as a Member of Parliament for Tavistock in Devon, in 1673, 1679, 1681, 1689, 1690, 1696 and 1698.
Sir George Speke (c.1530-1584) of Whitelackington in Somerset was Sheriff of Somerset in 1562–63 and was Member of Parliament for Somerset 1572-83.
Sir Thomas Denys of Holcombe Burnell, near Exeter, Devon, was a prominent lawyer who served as Sheriff of Devon nine times between 1507/8 to 1553/4 and as MP for Devon. He acquired large estates in Devon at the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Sir Robert Dennis of Holcombe Burnell in Devon, was a Member of Parliament for Devon in 1555 and served as Sheriff of Devon.
Henry Hamlin, of Exeter, Devon, was an English politician.
Bernard Smith of Totnes in Devon was MP for Totnes in 1558. He was mayor of Totnes in 1549–50 and c. 1565–6, and was escheator of Devon and Cornwall in 1567–8.
Sir George Smith of Madworthy-juxta-Exeter and Madford House, Exeter, Devon, was a merchant who served as MP for Exeter in 1604, was three times Mayor of Exeter and was Exeter's richest citizen, possessing 25 manors. He was the grandfather of George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (1608-1670) KG and of John Grenville, 1st Earl of Bath (1628–1701).
The Recorder of Exeter was a recorder, a form of senior judicial officer, usually an experienced barrister, within the jurisdiction of the City of Exeter in Devon. Historically he was usually a member of the Devonshire gentry. The position of recorder of any borough or city carried a great deal of prestige and power of patronage. The recorder was often entrusted by the mayor and corporation to nominate its members of parliament, as was the case with Sir Hugh I Pollard, Recorder of Barnstaple, who in 1545 nominated the two MP's to represent the Borough of Barnstaple. In the 19th century a recorder was the sole judge who presided at a Quarter Sessions of a Borough, a "Court of Record", and was a barrister of at least five years' standing. He fixed the dates of the Quarter Sessions at his own discretion "as long as he holds it once every quarter of a year", or more often if he deemed fit.
William Hurst, of Exeter, Devon, was an English merchant and Member of Parliament.