SANDYS, Samuel II (c.1637-1701), of Ombersley, Worcs.

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

b. c.1637, 1st s. of Samuel Sandys I. m. 7 Feb. 1655, Elizabeth (d. 25 May 1714), da. and h. of Sir John Pettus of Chediston, Suff., 3s. (1 d.v.p.) 4da. suc. fa. 1685.1

Offices Held

Commr. for assessment, Worcs. Aug. 1660-80, 1689-90, Oxon. 1663-80, Notts. 1677-80; conservator, Bedford level 1663-6; commr. for recusants, Worcs. 1675, capt. of militia horse by 1677-?Mar. 1688, dep. lt. 1680-Mar. 1688, 1690-?d., j.p. ?1685-Mar. 1688, 1689-d.; freeman, Bewdley aft. 1685-Sept. 1688.2

Biography

Sandys received wages for his service as MP when he was returned for the family borough of Droitwich in 1661 on his father moving up to represent the county. In the opening sessions of the Cavalier Parliament there is some possibility of confusion with his father and his cousin William. But he was probably inactive for reasons of health. He was definitely appointed to 22 committees, including those in the first session to restore the bishops to the House of Lords, to report on the shortfall in the revenue, and to consider the bill of pains and penalties. Two private bills concerning his constituency passed through the House in this session, for which he probably received parliamentary wages. He was on both lists of the court party in 1669-71 among those Members who usually voted for supply. On 29 Mar. 1671 he carried up the bill for taking the accounts of the indigent officers’ fund. His name appeared on the Paston list, but Sir Richard Wiseman noted him as absent from the autumn session of 1675. On reflection Shaftesbury marked him in 1677 a degree less ‘vile’ than his father, and he was not included in the ‘unanimous club’ of court supporters. In the first Exclusion Parliament he was appointed only to the committee of elections and privileges. Shaftesbury now marked him ‘honest’, and he probably paired with his father in the division on the exclusion bill. He was appointed to no committees in the second Exclusion Parliament and was given leave of absence on 16 Dec. 1680. He made way for his father in 1681, and when he regained his seat, with the Earl of Plymouth’s recommendation, in James II’s Parliament, he was listed among the Opposition, but again totally inactive.3

Sandys replied to the lord lieutenant’s questions on the repeal of the Test and Penal Laws that:

he did not know his own mind, found he changed his opinion on other occasions, and therefore would not promise, not knowing whether upon hearing the debates in Parliament, he might not be prevailed upon to justify his promises. But at present he was of opinion that both the Penal Laws and the Test ought to be taken off, but he believed he should not be a Parliament man, his sore eyes and other infirmities rendering him unfit.

Despite this qualified affirmative he was removed from local office. He was again returned for Droitwich at the general election of 1689. Presumably he supported the Revolution, but he made no recorded speeches in the Convention, and did not serve on any committees, nor does his name appear on either division list. He stood for the county in 1690, but mysteriously desisted when his chances seemed excellent, and retired from politics. He died on 4 Aug. 1701, aged 64, and was buried at Ombersley. By then the family had gone over to the Whigs. His son, who predeceased him, represented the county from 1695 to 1698, and his grandson sat for Worcester from 1718 until raised to the peerage in 1743.4

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: Edward Rowlands / John. P. Ferris / Geoffrey Jaggar

Notes

  • 1. Nash, Worcs. ii. 220; Mems. St. Margaret’s, Westminster, 367.
  • 2. S. Wells, Drainage of the Bedford Level, i. 456-7; CJ, ix. 405; Univ. Birmingham Hist. Jnl. i. 114.
  • 3. Worcs. RO, 261/4/698, f. 33; CSP Dom. 1685, p. 23.
  • 4. CSP Dom. 1687-9, pp. 275, 279; Bath mss, Thynne pprs. 13, f. 263v, Thynne to Weymouth, 29 Mar. 1690; Nash, 218.