PYM, Alexander (c.1547-85), of Brymore, Som.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. c.1547, 1st s. of Erasmus Pym of Brymore by Catherine, da. of Edward Bampfield of Poltimore, Devon. educ. M. Temple 1565, called. m. (1) settlement 1574/5, Elizabeth, da. of John Conyers of London, 1da.; (2) settlement 31 July 1580, Philippa, da. of Humphrey Colles of Barton, 1s. John 1da. suc. fa. 1582/3.

Offices Held

J.p.q. Som. from c.1579, commr. militia 1584.2

Biography

The Pyms had owned the manor of Brymore since the thirteenth century, and had acquired more land in Somerset, Devon and Dorset, including the manors of Langham, Stoke Pero and Woolavington, and property in Bridgwater. Pym himself was a lawyer, those bound to him at the Temple including Timothy Pym, son of Thomas, a baron of the Exchequer in Henry VIII’s reign, and Thomas Conyers, a relative of his first wife. The Conyers family, originally from Durham, had moved to London when John Conyers entered royal service at about the middle of the century.3

Pym was one of several local men returned for Taunton during the period when the bishop of Winchester and the local authorities appear to have been content to share the nominations for each Parliament. Through his mother’s family, the Bampfields, he was related to several Members in this and other Elizabethan Parliaments. He did not occupy the seat for long, however, if at all: he was returned in November 1584, held a manorial court in the far west of Somerset 10 Dec., and died 7 Jan. 1585, the new writ being issued 13 Jan. His second wife, whose father and brother were both sheriffs of Somerset, later married Anthony Rous. John Pym was only a few months old at the time of his father’s sudden death.4

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: M.R.P.

Notes

  • 1. Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.
  • 2. Vis. Som. (Harl. Soc. xi), 66; SP12/145/39; E163/14/8; Lansd. 737, f. 157; Som. RO DD/BW no. 82; C142/187/61.
  • 3. Collinson, Som. i. 233-4; ii. 25, 43; iii. 82, 438, 529; PCC 7 Rowe; E. Green, Preps. in Som. against the Armada, 34, 51; Som. Enrolled Deeds, ed. Harbin, 131; M. T. Recs. i. passim; Surtees, Hist. Durham, iii. 219; The Topographer, i. 177.
  • 4. Som. RO, DD/BW Pym mss, no. 112; C142/206/20; HMC 10th Rep. VI, 82; Townshend, Hist. Colls. 192. The Som. RO references in this biog. have been kindly supplied by Mr. Conrad Russell.