Sir Francis Wyndham, 1st Baronet


Sir Francis Wyndham, 1st Baronet of Trent in Somerset was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England in 1640. He was a colonel of horse in the Royalist army in the English Civil War and helped Charles II escape to France.

Biography

Francis Wyndham was born around 1610, fifth surviving son of Sir Thomas Wyndham, and his wife Elizabeth Coningsby. His father came from the Kentsford Wyndhams, a cadet branch of the Orchard Wyndhams, a numerous and powerful grouping within the Somerset gentry. He was one of five sons, including Edmund Wyndham ; the other three died during the 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
In 1646, he married Anne Gerard, daughter and heir of Thomas Gerard, owner of Trent Manor, then in Somerset, now in Dorset. They had three sons, Thomas, Francis, and Gerard.

Career

In April 1640, Wyndham was elected Member of Parliament for Minehead in the Short Parliament. Wyndham became a colonel in the army of Charles I and was governor of Dunster Castle. In 1645 he was engaged in the defence of Bridgwater. After the Battle of Worcester in 1651, Wyndham was instrumental in the escape of Charles II to France, hiding him in his house at Trent, Dorset for several days.
In August 1660, he was elected MP for Milbourne Port in the Convention Parliament, then re-elected in 1661 for the Cavalier Parliament where he sat until his death. In 1661, he was commissioned a major in the Royal Horse Guards, commanding a troop.
He was created a baronet on 18 November 1673, apparently in return for foregoing a claim on the Exchequer for £10,800 granted in 1670. He died three years later at the age of 64, and was buried in St Andrews' parish church, Trent.