BARRINGTON, Sir John, 3rd bt. (c.1615-83), of Barrington Hall, Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex.

Barrington was heir to one of the most important puritan families of the early seventeenth century, and his father Sir Thomas Barrington* was a leading godly patron in the eastern counties, and a key supporter of colonial projects in New England. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and Gray’s Inn, John Barrington was knighted in May 1638 in recognition of his status, although he had yet to make his mark in either local administration or national affairs. Unlike his father, he was not returned to Parliament at either election in 1640, but he was politically active in the causes with which Sir Thomas was associated. In October 1640, with Harbottle Grimston*, John delivered to York the document drawn up by the Essex gentry, probably galvanised by his father, in support of the petition of the 12 peers, which called upon the king to summon a Parliament.28Essex RO, D/DBa/A2, f. 59. In participating in what looks like a nationwide petitioning campaign, Barrington displayed the zeal for reform which in the next few years manifested itself in parliamentarian service. During the first civil war, Barrington played an active role in local administration, largely in his native Essex, and on behalf of the Eastern Association. He was recorded as having been at Harlow in the summer of 1643, and during the summer of 1644 was an active member of the Essex county committee.29HMC 7th Rep. 560b; Stowe 189, ff. 31, 33.

When Sir Thomas Barrington died in September 1644, John Barrington succeeded to the baronetcy and the family estates, although he soon found himself in financial difficulties with debts of up to £10,000, payment of which his father had been able to avoid as an MP.30Eg. 2648, f. 85. His problems stemmed partly from the failure of the Providence Island scheme, with which his father had been involved, and he was one of the few investors not protected from creditors by parliamentary privilege.31HMC 6th Rep. 71. Barrington sought to call in debts, and where possible to evade making payments.32Eg. 2648, f. 82; HMC 7th Rep. 570a. Writing in April 1646 to the New England minister Ezekiel Rogers, who anticipated financial support from the Barrington estate, Barrington explained the situation, saying that his father had also lent money to ‘others who, being privileged by Parliament, did me the favour to let me suffer the severity of the law’.33Eg. 2648, f. 120. In July 1645 Barrington had petitioned Parliament for protection, and an ordinance was introduced into the House of Lords on his behalf, but although it was referred to a committee, which was to take evidence from his creditors, the measure appears not to have been passed.34PA, MP 24 July 1645; LJ vii. 506a; HMC 6th Rep. 71; HMC 7th Rep. 589. Additionally, he was plagued for many years by a strained relationship with his step-mother, Lady Barrington (who was also his wife’s aunt).35Essex RO, D/DBa/F24; D/DBa/L26; D/DBa/A2, f. 55v; Galpin, ‘Household expenses’, 281; Oxford DNB, ‘Judith Barrington’.

Debt and attendant legal problems may have prompted Barrington to seek a seat in Parliament in the recruiter elections, but he may also have had more exalted motives, as well as some sense of entitlement owing to the presence in the Commons of many of his kin. He maintained the family interest in providing ministers for Massachusetts, and his letters reveal a concern for godly reformation, and for the parliamentarian cause.36HMC 7th Rep. 570a. In April 1646 he wrote that

there is but little reformation amongst us, notwithstanding the judgements of God that have been executed in our land, yet God of late hath appeared wonderfully for his people, great things have been done by him, to him be the praise.

He noted that ‘we have seen by lamentable experience that there is no certainty in things below’, and concluded that ‘this should teach us to be more spiritual and to take off our hearts from the earth, and set our affections upon heaven and heavenly things’.37Eg. 2648, f. 120.

In seeking a place in Parliament, Barrington turned to the borough of Newtown in the Isle of Wight, where his family had considerable influence, as well as a sizeable estate. Support may also have been forthcoming from Philip Herbert*, 4th earl of Pembroke, lord lieutenant of the island, with whom he enjoyed friendly relations.38Add. 46501, f. 148. Elected on 11 November 1645, Barrington probably took his seat in June 1646, when he took the Covenant.39I.o.W. RO, JER/BAR/3/9/8, p. 42; CJ iv. 586a. However, although he was named as a commissioner for exclusion from the sacrament (3 June), he made little visible contribution to Commons proceedings.40CJ iv. 563a. His only other appointment (10 Feb. 1647) was to a minor committee concerning the rectory of Menheniot in Cornwall, where Bishop Joseph Hall’s son George was sequestered from the vicarage.41CJ v. 84b; Oxford DNB, ‘George Hall’. He was recorded as being absent at the call of the House on 9 October, although the fine of £20 which he incurred was restored to him at the end of the month.42CJ v. 330a, 344a.

By 1648 Barrington was an elder in the Hatfield Broad Oak Presbyterian classis.43Shaw, Hist. Eng. Church, ii. 382. There is some evidence that, beyond continuing involvement in routine local administration, he was active in the parliamentarian cause during the second civil war. On 27 April 1648 he was among those ordered by the Commons to prevent the meeting of the grand jury, freeholders and inhabitants of Essex, while on 17 May, he was instructed to acquaint Robert Rich, 2nd earl of Warwick, about the pamphlet containing the declaration of those in the county who fomented the renewed hostilities, and on 5 June he was ordered to take the indemnity ordinance into the county.44CJ v. 546b, 563a, 586a.

Thereafter, Barrington largely disappeared from the records of the House. He was named among those appointed to collect the assessment in Essex on 25 November, but he may have been away from Westminster when Pride’s Purge took place on 6 December.45CJ vi. 87b. He was certainly in the Isle of Wight on 11 December, and there is no record of his having taken the dissent from the vote of 5 December.46Essex RO, D/DBa/O22. He was not secluded at the purge, and he was named as a commissioner for the high court of justice to try the king, although he took no part in the proceedings.47A. and O. On 28 February 1649 the House indicated that, even if he did not take the dissent before the following day, he might be allowed to resume his seat, but it is not clear whether this indicates that Barrington was considering returning to Westminster, and there is no evidence that he participated in the proceedings of the Rump.48CJ vi. 153a.

For the time being Barrington retained his place on local commissions, but his public profile was otherwise low, and he may have concentrated his efforts on restoring his financial fortunes.49A. and O.; Eg. 2648, f. 149. In November 1653 he was arrested at the behest of his stepmother, whose hostile manoeuvrings may possibly also lay behind his temporary removal that October from the commission of the peace.50Eg. 2648, f. 221; Galpin, ‘Household expenses’, 285; C231/6, p. 271. He spent three weeks in the Fleet prison before securing a writ of habeas corpus, and petitioned that he ‘for several years past hath been unjustly prosecuted in the high court of chancery by the practice of Dame Judith Barrington’.51Eg. 2648, f. 225; Galpin, ‘Household expenses’, 293; Eg. 2651, f. 183. Although this dispute remained unresolved until her death in 1657, and although Barrington continued to suffer financial problems, he was both willing and able to serve the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell* (who was a kinsman), if not in Parliament, then as sheriff of Essex in 1654.52Essex RO, D/DBa/F25, 26; D/DK/O2; L51; HMC 7th Rep. 578; CSP Dom. 1655, p. 94. He may also have benefited from the Irish lands allocated as his father’s share in the Irish Adventure, in the barony of Slane, County Meath, but here too he faced legal problems relating to a dispute with Edward Dendy*.53CSP Ire. 1647-60, pp. 501, 546, 834; CSP Ire. Adv. 1642-59, p. 345; CSP Dom. 1655-6, pp. 117, 353; HMC 7th Rep. 570-1, 575; Eg. 2648, ff. 229, 231, 268, 284, 286, 293, 325, 328, 355, 358; Eg. 2651, ff. 224, 226-7, 228, 230, 232, 235-6. The matter was raised in Parliament in December 1656, and the Commons eventually included a proviso in the bill for confirming Irish estates in June 1657, to protect Barrington from the claims made by Dendy.54Burton’s Diary, i. 203; ii. 197; CJ vii. 550b; A. and O.

There is no evidence that Barrington returned to Westminster after the readmission of the secluded Members in February 1660, but he represented Newtown in both the Convention and Cavalier Parliaments. Although little in evidence at Westminster, he was reckoned to be a ‘friend’ by Philip, 4th Baron Wharton and was later considered ‘worthy’ by the 1st earl of Shaftesbury (Anthony Ashley Cooper*).55HP Commons 1660-1690. He died on 24 March 1683 and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak on 3 April.56CB; Hatfield Broad Oak par reg.