AUCHER, Sir Anthony (c.1614-92), of Bishopsbourne, Kent.

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.1614, o.s. of Sir Anthony Aucher of Bishopsbourne by Hester, da. of Peter Collett of London. educ. Clare, Camb. 1632. m. (1) c.1635, Elizabeth (d.1648), da. of Sir Robert Hatton of Oakington, Cambs., 7s.; (2) lic. 13 Oct. 1681, Elizabeth, da. of Robert Hewytt of London, 2s. 2da. suc. fa. 1637; kntd. 4 July 1641; cr. Bt. 4 July 1666.

Offices Held

J.p. Kent July 1660-d., dep. lt. c. Aug. 1660-89; commr. for oyer and terminer, Home circuit July 1660, assessment, Canterbury Aug. 1660-1, 1689-90, Kent 1661-80, sewers, E. Kent Sept. 1660; capt. of militia ft. Canterbury Oct. 1660; commr. for corporations, Kent 1662-3, loyal and indigent officers 1662, steward, St. Augustine’s Court, Canterbury 1663-d.; commr. for recusants, Kent 1675; alderman, Canterbury 1684-May 1688.1

Biography

Aucher was descended from the master of the jewels under Henry VIII, who had received valuable monastic properties in Kent; but he was the only member of the family to sit in Parliament. For his part in the Kentish petition he was imprisoned for nine months in 1643, and he was in arms for the King in both Civil Wars. His fine of £700 obliged him to sell the manors of Kingston and Lyminge. In 1648, after the failure of the Kentish rebellion, he fled to Holland; his first wife died at Calais in that year. He returned to England and apparently remained inactive until 1659 when he helped to organize a Cavalier rising.2

Despite Aucher’s royalist background, he was returned unopposed for Canterbury at the general election of 1660. His residence was only four miles away, and he also leased corporation property. He was not an active Member of the Convention, being named to only five committees, of which the most important were for settling ministers and to report on the public debt. He is not known to have stood again, although he enjoyed royal favour. The King recommended him as ‘a sufferer for his loyalty’ for a lease from the dean and chapter of Canterbury and recomended his son for a fellowship at Trinity Hall. He became high steward of St. Augustine’s Court in 1663, and was created a baronet in 1666. In 1684 he was named as an alderman of Canterbury in the new charter, but his election as mayor in 1686 was disallowed by the Privy Council. He gave affirmative answers on the repeal of the Tests and Penal Laws, but was nevertheless removed from the corporation. He remained on the lieutenancy, however, until after the Revolution and on the commission of the peace until his death. He was buried at Bishopsbourne on 31 May 1692, leaving annuities amounting to more than £200 and setting his daughters’ portions at £1,500.3

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: M. W. Helms / Basil Duke Henning

Notes

  • 1. C142/544/59; C181/7/56; Parl. Intell. 8 Oct. 1660; Twysden Ltcy. Pprs. (Kent Arch. Soc, recs. br. x), 14, 37; K. S. Martin, Maidstone Recs. 45; CSP Dom. 1663-4, p. 197; E. Hasted, Canterbury, ii. 653.
  • 2. R. Furley, Weald of Kent, ii. pt. 2, pp. 524, 539, 544; Hasted, Kent, viii. 84; A. M. Everitt, Community of Kent and the Great Rebellion, 264, 303.
  • 3. CSP Dom. 1660-1, p. 130; 1661-2, p. 293; 1687-9, p. 228; PC2/71/316; 72/673.