NAPIER, Sir Robert (1602-1661), of Woolbridge, Dorset and Luton Hoo, Beds

Napier was descended from a junior branch of the Scottish Napiers, lairds of Merchistoun. His father made his fortune as a London merchant, acquiring both a baronetcy and the Luton Hoo estate in 1611, while his uncle Richard achieved fame as a physician and astrologer.15 CB, i. 80; VCH Beds. ii. 353; Oxford DNB sub Richard Napier. Through his Scottish relatives, Napier was distantly related to the illustrious dukes of Lennox, cousins of the Stuart monarchs, and in 1623 he married a niece of the duchess. This advantageous union was solemnized by lord keeper Williams in the king’s chamber at Whitehall Palace, and it was incorrectly reported at the time that Napier was ‘presently to be made a viscount of Scotland or Ireland’.16 Burke Commoners, ii. 639-41; Chamberlain Letters, ii. 495. Following his marriage, Napier apparently settled at Woolbridge, Dorset, the home of his bride’s stepfather, John Turberville.17 W.H. Black, Cat. Ashmolean Mss, 231; J. Duncombe, Reculver and Herne, 104; Vis. Dorset (Harl. Soc. cxvii), 67.

In 1626 Napier was elected to represent Corfe Castle in the second Caroline Parliament, probably on the nomination of a local landowner, his kinsman Sir Nathaniel Napper*.18 Burke Commoners, ii. 639-41. However, on 5 Apr. he was excused from attending the Commons on the grounds of his wife’s recent death, and may never have taken his seat.19 Procs. 1626, ii. 431. At the next parliamentary election, he was returned for Weymouth, following in the footsteps of his brother-in-law, Sir Thomas Myddelton II.20 Vis. Beds. 184. Somewhat surprisingly, given his inexperience, he was named on 20 Mar. 1628 to the prestigious committee for privileges, but he made no recorded speeches, and attracted just one further appointment, to consider a bill against the corrupt acquisition of judicial offices (23 Jan. 1629).21 CD 1628, ii. 29; CJ, i. 922a.

In the following decade, Napier reaffirmed his social credentials by marrying a daughter of the earl of Bridgewater. He represented Peterborough in the Long Parliament, but his membership was suspended for much of the Civil War period due to his wavering allegiance, and was finally terminated by Pride’s Purge.22 Keeler, Long Parl. 284; CCAM, 1260; CJ, v. 590a. He drew up his will in January 1661, and was buried at Luton barely a month later. His son Sir John was returned for Bedfordshire in 1664.23 PROB 11/304, f. 48v; CB, i. 80; HP Commons, 1660-90, iii. 126-7.