Family and Education

bap. 18 Oct. 1611, 2nd but 1st surv. s. of Sir John Oglander^† of Nunwell by Frances, da. of Sir George More^† of Loseley, Surr. educ. Winchester by 1626; G. Inn 1633. m. settlement 1 Nov. 1637 (with £2,000), Dorothy, da. of Sir Francis Clarke of Hitcham, Bucks., 4s. (3 d.v.p.) 3da. suc. fa. 1655; kntd. 4 July 1665; cr. Bt. 12 Dec. 1665.1

Offices Held

Commr. for assessment, I.o.W. 1647-8, Aug. 1660-1, 1663-4, Hants Aug. 1660-3, 1664-9; j.p. Hants 1652-d.; capt. of militia ft. I.o.W. 1655 d., col. by 1666, dep. gov. Aug. 1660-d.; commr. for corporations, Hants 1662-3; ‘burgess’, Newtown, I.o.W. 1662-d.2

Biography

Oglander’s ancestors had held the manor of Nunwell since the 13th century, but his father, who represented Yarmouth in the first three Parliaments of Charles I, was the first of the family to sit. Oglander was apprenticed to a London Skinner in 1626, but on the death of his elder brother he was entered at Gray’s Inn at a comparatively late age, no doubt in the belief that an heir should have some legal education. He was chosen to represent Yarmouth at the first general election of 1640, but he was unable to conceal his opinion that the corporation were ‘an illbred company of fools and loggerheads’ and that ‘a meaner man than himself might have served their turn’. The corporation took him at his word, solemnly entering a protest against his language in their records. He was unanimously ‘dismissed and excluded’ as ‘being altogether unfit to be a burgess for the Parliament’, and John Bulkeley was chosen in his place. This presumably happened before the indenture was returned, as he never sat in the Short Parliament.3

Oglander’s father, a ship-money sheriff, did not disguise his royalist sympathies, though he never took up arms for the King. He was thrice imprisoned, and the fines levied upon his estate are said to have depleted the family fortunes. Oglander himself, however, was named to the county committee in 1647-8, though secretly engaged in plans to liberate the King, and to the commission of the peace in 1652. He held office for the rest of his life, though he seems to have been reluctant to take the oaths to the Protectorate. Returned to the Convention for Newport, he was probably a court supporter, but he left no trace on the records. He became deputy governor of the Isle of Wight at the Restoration and was re-elected in 1661. An inactive Member of the Cavalier Parliament he was appointed to eight committees, including the committee of elections and privileges in one session. He spent most of his time in the Isle of Wight, where he performed the functions of governor during the frequent absences of Lord Colepeper. Charles II visited Nunwell in the summer of 1665 and knighted Oglander, at the same time promising him a patent for a baronetcy without charge, on account of his own loyal services and his father’s sufferings in the royal cause. In 1667 he was pricked as sheriff of the county, but in view of his duties on the Isle of Wight he was excused from serving. He was fined £40 early in 1668 as a defaulter in the call of the House, but this was lifted when the Commons learned of his ‘having been and still continuing very sick’. Sir Thomas Osborne listed him as ‘Mr Oglander’ among the Members to be engaged for the Court in September 1669, but he died in the following year and was buried at Brading on 9 Aug. 1670. The next member of the family to sit was the 6th Baronet, who represented Bodmin as an independent from 1807 to 1812.4

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: M. W. Helms / Paula Watson / Basil Duke Henning

Notes

This biography is based on C. F. A. Oglander, Nunwell Symphony, 70-134.

• 1. Hutchins, Dorset, ii. 134; information from Mr C. D. Webster, I.o.W. archivist.
• 2. Hants Field Club Pprs. ii. 98-99.
• 3. VCH Hants, v. 164; Misc. Gen. et Her. (ser. 3), i. 194.
• 4. HMC Portland, i. 589; CJ, ix. 49, 56; information from C. D. Webster.