Thomas Gewen

Thomas Gewen (1585 – November 1660) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1645 and 1660.

He was the grandson of Thomas and the son of Christopher Gewen of Werrington. He was educated at the Queen's College, Oxford and the Inner Temple. He married twice; first to a daughter of Edward Cosworth, with whom he had a son. In July 1622, he married Mary, the daughter of Matthew Springham, with whom he had one son and two daughters.^{[1] [2]}

Thomas Gewen settled at Bradridge, in the parish of Boyton in Cornwall and was a joint auditor for the Duchy of Cornwall, until he was deprived of his position at the outbreak of the Civil War for his support of the parliamentary cause.

He was appointed by Act of Parliament ^[3] as a member of the Cornwall Committee for raising money.^[4] He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Launceston in 1645 for the second part of the Long Parliament but was excluded under Pride's Purge in 1648. In 1654, he was elected MP for Cornwall in the First Protectorate Parliament. He was elected MP for Launceston in 1656 for the Second Protectorate Parliament and in 1659 for the Third Protectorate Parliament.^[5] In 1657, Gewen was a strong supporter of Cromwell ^[6] but by 1660, he was opposed to the military party and was in favour of monarchy and the House of Lords. He was also a sturdy Presbyterian and was considered one of the main persecutors of Quakers.^[4]

He was Recorder of Launceston,^[7] and as Justice of the Peace was responsible for conducting marriages.^[4]

Gewen was re-elected MP for Launceston in April 1660 ^[1] which he held until his death a few months later at the age of 75.^[8]

References

1. The House of Commons, 1660-1690 by B.D.Henning (1983) p.164 and 393/4, available on GoogleBooks
2. History of Parliament 1660-1690: Gewen
3. July 1644: An Ordinance for the enabling the Committees herein named, to put in execution severall Ordinances of Parliament in the Counties of Wilts, Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, the Cities of Bristoll and Exeter, and the Town and County of Poole. quoted in Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum, 1642-1660 (1911), pp. 459-461. on the British History website. Date accessed: 1 January 2011.
4. Sir Alfred Robbins Launceston past and present: A historical and descriptive sketch
5. Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. pp. 229–239.
6. Sir Thomas Burton reports, in his parliamentary diary for 3 February 1657/58: "Mr. Gewen was moving, when I came in, to the whole system of government; and concluded with this motion: That now we are a free Parliament, we would draw up a Bill to invest his Highness in the title and dignity of King, Providence having cast it upon him." see 'The Diary of Thomas Burton: 3 February 1657-8', Diary of Thomas Burton esq, volume 2: April 1657 - February 1658 (1828), pp. 424-441. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36879 Date accessed: 12 January 2011. >
7. Cornwall Record Office Catalogue - Item Code: BLAUS/350 "Launceston Borough - Mayor: Thomas Bolithoe - Names of free tenants to free burgesses and censors. Election of mayor, in September, and other borough officers. 19 September 1646, a special meeting of mayor and aldermen whereat they removed Ambrose Mannaton for siding with Sir Ralph Hopton and elected Thomas Gewen as Recorder in his place, and dealing with the history of the time."
8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 1)

Members of the Inner Temple