HUSSEY, Charles (1626-64), of Caythorpe, Lincs.

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

Constituency

Dates

1661 - 2 Dec. 1664

Family and Education

bap. 30 Oct. 1626, 3rd but 1st surv. s. of Sir Edward Hussey, 1st Bt., (d.1648), of Honington by Elizabeth, da. of George Anton of Lincoln; bro. of Thomas Hussey. educ. G. Inn 1646. m. lic. 10 Apr. 1649, Elizabeth, da. of Sir William Brownlow, 1st Bt., of Humby, 3s. 6da. cr. Bt. 21 July 1661.1

Offices Held

Commr. for assessment, Lincs. 1652, 1657, Jan. 1660, 1661-3, (Kesteven) Aug. 1660-1, 1663-d., militia, Lincs. 1659, Mar. 1660; j.p. (Kesteven) Mar. 1660-d., commr. for sewers, Lincs. Aug. 1660, loyal and indigent officers, 1662, complaints, Bedford level 1663.2

Biography

Hussey’s family had held property in Lincolnshire since at least the reign of Henry VI, first entering Parliament in 1467. The whole family was royalist in the Civil War. His father was fined £8,750 as a commissioner of array, his uncle died in the Newark garrison, and his brother John was killed at Gainsborough. Hussey, too young to have committed himself, was appointed to local office during the Interregnum, and represented the county in the second Protectorate Parliament. As the son of a Royalist, he may have been considered ineligible at the general election of 1660.3

Hussey regained his seat at the general election of 1661, and was created a baronet shortly afterwards. An active Member in the opening sessions of the Cavalier Parliament, he was appointed to 82 committees and acted as teller in five divisions. In the first session he was named to the committees to examine the Journals of the Long Parliament and to consider the security and schismatics bills, but he took no part in the principal measures of the Clarendon Code, though he was added to the revived committee for the execution of those under attainder and appointed to that for the additional corporations bill. With Lord Herbert of Raglan (Henry Somerset), Sir Anthony Irby and Robert Long he was given leave on 29 Nov. to bring in a bill for the more effectual draining of the Lincolnshire fens. He introduced a petition from the commoners in the soke of Bolingbroke and East Holland as one of their friends and patrons on 28 Jan. 1662, and with Lord Willoughby de Eresby (Robert Bertie I) acted as teller for its committal. His interest in the Lindsey level was questioned by the Adventurers, and he appears to have been unable to prove his title at the bar of the House.4

When Parliament met again in 1663, Hussey was among the leaders of the opposition. He was appointed to the committees to consider the defects in the Corporations Act and the petition from the loyal and indigent officers. He took the chair for the bill to prevent abuses in the sale of offices, and on 12 June acted as teller against supply with Sir Richard Temple. When the King denounced Temple as an ‘undertaker’, Hussey produced a politely incredulous report from the committee of inquiry. Meanwhile the Lindsey level bill had been revived. Hussey acted as teller against the recompense proposed for the Adventurers on 4 July, and against the adjournment of the debate on 22 July. In the third session he was teller for an unsuccessful proviso to the repeal of the Triennial Act. He was one of the opposition speakers in the debate of 21 Apr. 1664 ‘pretending as great a fervency’ to war with the Dutch as any in the House, but urging the appointment of a council of war (see John Vaughan). He was appointed to the committee of elections and privileges in the fourth session, but died in London on 2 Dec., and was buried at Caythorpe, leaving an estate valued at some £2,500 p.a. His early death and the scanty records of these sessions prevent any conclusion on his politics. His opposition to the Clarendon administration may have been based on principle, or he may have been a mere frondeur eager to avenge his defeat over the Lindsey level drainage bill.5

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: J. S. Crossette / John. P. Ferris

Notes

  • 1. R. E. G. Cole, Hist. Doddington, 97.
  • 2. C181/7/76.
  • 3. Lincs. Peds. (Harl. Soc. li), 526-31; Cole, 90-95.
  • 4. CJ, viii. 352, 402, 418; W. B. Stonehouse, Isle of Axholme, 103-4.
  • 5. CJ, viii. 496, 507, 538; Bodl. Carte 215, f. 30; Her. and Gen. ii. 222.