Family and Education

b. 10 Jan. 1628, 2nd but 1st surv. s. of John Bennet, merchant, of St. Stephen’s Walbrook, London by Joane, da. of William Mill of St. Clement Danes, Mdx. educ. G. Inn 1642. m. 5 Apr. 1654, Elizabeth, da. of Sir Thomas Whitmore 1st Bt., of Apley Park, Salop, 1s. suc. fa. 1631.1

Offices Held

J.p. Cambs. 1657-d., commr. for assessment Sept. 1660-2, corporations 1662-d.2

Gent. pens. June 1660-2, gent. of privy chamber 1662-d.3

Biography

Bennet, the second cousin of Sir Henry Bennet, later Earl of Arlington, bought Great Abington from the Earl of Northampton in 1652. He owed his return for Bridgnorth to his brother-in-law Sir William Whitmore, and presumably supported the Court. In the Convention he was named only to the committee on the queen mother’s estate, and was given leave to go into the country on 1 Sept. 1660. In the Cavalier Parliament he was moderately active, with 22 committee appointments, including those for the uniformity and regicides bills. He died on 16 May 1663, and was buried in the Mercers’ Chapel, London. His son, a dissenter, was proposed as court candidate for Cambridgeshire in 1688, and sat for Newton from 1691 to 1695.4

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: M. W. Helms

Notes

• 1. G. E. Cokayne, Ld. Mayors and Sheriffs of London, 18; Salop Arch. Soc. Trans. (ser. 4), iv. 277; v. 62; St. Stephen’s Walbrook (Harl. Soc. Reg. xlix), 18.
• 2. Camb. Antiq. Soc. Procs. xvii. 105.
• 3. Beaufort mss 600.2; Carlisle, Privy Chamber, 173.
• 4. VCH Cambs. vi. 5; Cambs. RO, 619/E20.