BENNET, John (1628-63), of Great Abington, Cambs.

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.VCH Cambs. vi. 5; Cambs. RO, 619/E20.