Henry Bedingfield (judge)
{{Short description|English lawyer and politician}}
{{for|the 16th-century courtier|Henry Bedingfeld}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2017}}
File:Sir Henry Bedingfield by Robert White.jpg
File:The Gothic House, London Road, Halesworth (geograph 4148973).jpg
Sir Henry Bedingfield (1632 – 6 February 1687) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660 and from 1685 to 1686. He was briefly Chief Justice of the Common Pleas at the end of his life.
Early life and family
Henry Bedingfield was the son of John Bedingfield (1595–1680) of Halesworth, Suffolk and was baptised on 9 December 1632. He was the nephew of Sir Thomas Bedingfield. He was educated at Norwich Grammar School and admitted to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in 1650.{{acad|id=BDNT650H|name=Bedingfield, Henry}} He also entered Lincoln's Inn that year, and was called to the bar in 1657. The following year he was made a freeman of Dunwich, enabling him to be elected to the Convention Parliament in 1660. He did not seek re-election subsequently, preferring to concentrate on his legal practice.[http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/bedingfield-henry-1632-87 History of Parliament Online - Bedingfield,, Henry]
Later career
In 1683, he presented an address from Dunwich, abhorring the Rye House Plot. That November he became a bencher of Lincoln's Inn, a serjeant at law the following January, and a King's Serjeant the following November, when he was also knighted. Following the succession of James II, he was elected a Tory MP for Aldeburgh.{{HistoryofParliament|1660|author=Paula Watson|title=Aldeburgh|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/constituencies/aldeburgh
|accessdate=27 November 2022}} In February 1686 he was appointed a Justice of Common Pleas and in April Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
Private life
However, he died suddenly in the following February. He had married, c.1667, his cousin Mary, daughter of Robert Bedingfield, DD, rector of Newton, Cambridgeshire and had 2 daughters.
References
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Further reading
- {{ODNBweb|first=Stuart|last=Handley|title=Bedingfield, Sir Henry (bap. 1632, d. 1687|id=1937}}
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{{s-bef
| before = Robert Brewster
| before2 = John Barrington
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| years= 1660
| with Sir John Rous
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{{s-aft
|after = Richard Coke
|after2 = Sir John Rous
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{{s-bef
| before = John Bence
| before2 = John Corrance
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{{s-ttl
| years = 1685–1687
| with = John Bence
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{{s-aft
|after = Sir Henry Johnson
|after2 = William Johnson
}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef|before= Sir Thomas Jones}}
{{s-ttl|title= Chief Justice of the Common Pleas |years=1686–1687}}
{{s-aft|after= Sir Edward Herbert}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedingfield, Henry}}
Category:People from Halesworth
Category:People educated at Norwich School
Category:Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Category:Members of Lincoln's Inn
Category:Justices of the common pleas
Category:Chief justices of the common pleas
Category:17th-century English lawyers
Category:Serjeants-at-law (England)