VERNON, Sir George (c.1630-92), of West Street, Farnham, Surr.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. c.1630, 1st s. of Henry Vernon of Farnham by Joan, da. of John Winter of Preshaw, Corhampton, Hants; bro. of Sir Thomas Vernon. educ. I. Temple 1647. m. (1) by 1659, Elizabeth, da. and h. of Roger Kirkham of Cheshunt, Herts., 2s. 2da.; (2) lic. 19 Apr. 1676, Anne, da. of one Parish of Brentford, Mdx., wid. of Francis Jefferies, vintner, of Westminster, s.p. suc. fa. 1657; kntd. 6 Nov. 1681.1

Offices Held

J.p. Surr. July 1660-Feb. 1688, Nov. 1688-d., Hants 1680-Feb. 1688, Suss. 1687-July 1688; commr. for assessment, Surr. Aug. 1660-80, 1689-90, charitable uses, Haslemere 1662; freeman, Guildford 1662; keeper, Farnham chase 1662-d.; dep. lt. Surr. by 1679 Feb. 1688, Hants 1683-Feb. 1688; maj. of militia ft. Surr. by 1680-?Feb. 1688.2

Biography

Vernon claimed descent from a Staffordshire family; but nothing positive is known of his father before 1648, when Charles I stayed at his house in Farnham as a captive on his way to his trial. Vernon himself was one of the proposed knights of the Royal Oak after the Restoration, with an estimated annual income of £800, and was described by Lord Mordaunt as ‘a sober person’. A servant to the bishop of Winchester, he was demonstrably loyal to the Court as a justice, survived the purge of the county in 1680, and was knighted in the following year.3

Vernon was returned to James II’s Parliament for Haslemere but was totally inactive in the House. In 1688 he failed to appear at Winchester to answer the questions on the repeal of the Test Act and Penal Laws, but wrote that ‘having been often times sworn to maintain the Church of England, he cannot in consequence comply’. He was removed from local office and did not stand again. He accepted the Revolution and continued to attend quarter sessions. Vernon died on 18 Nov. 1692, ‘in the 63rd year of his age’, and was buried at Farnham. In his will he described himself as ‘a member of the true Catholic Church as it is now by law established in England’. His son George sat for Haslemere as a Tory under William III and Anne.4

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: J. S. Crossette

Notes

  • 1. Vis. Surr. (Harl. Soc. lx), 115; London Mar. Lic. ed. Foster, 1386; Mdx. Par. Reg. iv. 6; PCC 159 Twisse, 86 Ruthen, 73 Bunce.
  • 2. Manning and Bray, Surr. iii. 137, 657; Add. 6167, f. 207v; CSP Dom. Jan.-July 1683, p. 155.
  • 3. VCH Surr. ii. 605; CSP Dom. 1663-4, p. 47.
  • 4. Surr. RO, QS2/1/6, f. 325; Aubrey, Antiqs. Surr. iii. 337; PCC 233 Fane.