PYNE, Malachi (d.c.1683), of Exeter, Devon.

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

Constituency

Dates

Mar. 1679
Oct. 1679

Family and Education

s. of Thomas Pyne, yeoman, of Heavitree, Devon by w. Agnes. m. Mary, da. of Thomas Ford, merchant, of Exeter, 5s. 1da.1

Offices Held

Freeman, Exeter 1654, steward 1654-5, common councilman 1655-62, commr. for militia 1659, Mar. 1660, assessment Jan. 1660, 1679-80.2

Biography

Pyne was living in Exeter by 1642, but it was not until 12 years later that he took out his freedom as apprentice to Richard Ford, whose niece he married. He became a successful sugar importer, acquiring property in and around the city. He was probably a Presbyterian, contributing to the cost of the wall built during the Interregnum to divide up the cathedral with the Independents, and he was removed from the corporation in 1662 for refusing the oaths. He was returned for the city as a country candidate at both elections of 1679, and marked ‘honest’ on Shaftesbury’s list. An inactive Member of the first Exclusion Parliament, he was appointed only to the committees to inquire into the navy and to encourage the woollen manufactures, but he duly voted for the committal of the exclusion bill. In the second Exclusion Parliament he was completely inactive, although the corporation passed a vote of thanks to him on 16 Nov. 1680 for his care of the city’s interests in Parliament. He gave way to a court supporter in 1681. His will, drawn up in December 1682, was proved in April 1684. Later in the year his son, who was presumably a Tory, was nominated to the corporation in the new charter, but none of his descendants sat in Parliament.3

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: J. S. Crossette / Basil Duke Henning

Notes

  • 1. Devon RO, Moger transcripts 5732-3; PCC 46 Hare, 4 May.
  • 2. Devon RO, Exeter corp. act bk. 10, ff. 64, 180; Exeter Freemen (Devon and Cornw. Rec. Soc. extra ser. i), 143; R. Izacke, Exeter, 162; Devon and Cornw. N. and Q. xx. 308; Trans. Devon Assoc. lxi. 213.
  • 3. Devon Protestation Returns ed. Howard, 320; A. Brockett, Nonconformity in Exeter, 13; Devon and Cornw. N. and Q. xx. 308; A. Jenkins, Exeter, 177-81; Exeter corp. act bk. 11, f.211; PCC 46 Hare.