iis. iv. OCT. v, i9iL] NOTES AND QUERIES.
291
BRISTOL M.P.'s : SIR ARTHUR HART
AND SIR JOHN KNIGHT.
(US. iv. 247.)
I THINK DR. MAGRATH must mean Sir Richard Hart. He and Sir John Knight (II. ) were returned for Bristol to the Convention and the first Parliament of William and Mary in 1689. Both were Tories. Hart had served in the Parliaments of 1681 and 1685. Knight was new to Parliament. Both were members of Bristol Corporation, Hart being an alderman, and having served the offices of Sheriff and Mayor (1668 and 1680 respectively). He died 16 January, 1701/2.
Knight was not, so far as I know, related to the man of the same name who served in Charles II. 's Parliaments. That Knight became " Sir " in 1663, and died on 16 December, 1683, aged 71.
The second Sir John received his title in 1682. The two were active members of the Corporation, and writers of Bristol history have found it very difficult to avoid confusing one with the other. The second was the less reputable It was his speech that was burnt by the hangman, although there is good reason for doubting his capacity to compose it. An example of his composition is a note addressed to a brother alderman :
"Sir John Knight presents his compliments to Sir Richard Crumpe, and have a hat which are not mine. If you has a hat which are not yourn prob- ably it are the missing one."
Knight was the son of a Bristol sugar refiner, and died in February, 1718.
There is in existence a letter written by the Duke of Beaufort in May, 1686, informing Lord Sunderland that he has let the Mayor and magistrates of Bristol
" know the King's resentment of their late proceed- ings there and of Sir John Knight's behaviour both upon this and other occasions, and have made them such an exhortation from myselfe as I thought proper."
This followed a persecution of a small Roman Catholic congregation in the city, Sir John Knight being chief persecutor.
There was a seventeenth-century Tory alderman of Bristol named Arthur Hart (not Sir Arthur), but I cannot find that he ever represented the city in Parliament. He died in 1705.
If DR. MAGBATH has access to John Lati- mer's ' Annals of Bristol in the Seventeenth Century,' he will find many references to
Sir Richard Hart and the two Sir John
Knights. Should he be unable to consult
the volume, I might perhaps be able to
send him further information on particular
points. CHARLES WELLS.
134, Cromwell Road, Bristol.
Sir Richard (not Sir Arthur) Hart, M.P. for Bristol in 1681, December, 1685-7, 1689-90, and 1690-95, and an unsuccessful candidate in 1695 and 1698, was of Hanham, Somerset, and son of George Hart, sometime Alderman and Sheriff of Bristol, who died in 1658. He was elected a Common Councilman of Bristol in 1661 ; Alderman in October,
1680, till removed 13 June, 1686 ; reap- pointed 17 October, 1688, till death. Knighted at Whitehall 27 October, 1680 (see Le Neve, p. 342). Was Sheriff of Bristol 1668-9, and Mayor 1680-81. Died 16 January, 1701/2. M.I. in St. Nicholas's Church, Bristol.
Sir John Knight senior, M.P. for Bristol in 1660, 1661-79, March-July, 1679, and 1679-81, and an unsuccessful candidate in
1681, was, as stated by Le Neve, a merchant of Bristol, and third son of George Knight, merchant, sometime Alderman and (in 1639-40) Mayor of Bristol, by Anne, daughter of William Dyos of Bristol. He was born at Bristol in 1612 ; elected Common Councillor in September, 1650, and Sheriff on 15 September, 1660, but was then excused ; Alderman, April, 1662 ; Mayor 1663-4. Knighted 5 September, 1663. Married Martha, daughter of Thomas Cole of Bristol, gent. Died 16 December, 1683, aged 71. Buried in the Temple Church, Bristol. Left numerous children.
Sir John Knight junior, M.P, for Bristol 1689-90 and 1690-95, and an unsuccessful candidate in 1695 and 1698, was son of the John Knight who was Alderman of Bristol from 1672 till his death in 1679, and Mayor in 1670-71. He was cousin to Sir John Knight senior. He was elected a Common Councillor in June, 1674, until 1685 ; re- elected in 1688 until he resigned in 1702 ; Sheriff 1681-2 ; Mayor 1690-95. Knighted at Newmarket 12 March, 1682. Married Anne, daughter of Sir John Smith of Long Ashton. Died in poverty at Congresbury, Somerset, 3 February, 1717/18 (see 'D.N.B.'). Left issue from whom descend the Knights of Tythegston Court, Glamorgan.
I may add that particulars of these John Knights may be found in ' Bristol Lists, Municipal and Miscellaneous,' by the Rev. A. B. Beaven. W. D. PINK.
Lowton, Newton-le- Willows.
