HUXLEY, James (1614-c.1672), of Dornford, Wootton and Oxford, Oxon.

Huxley’s father, of Cheshire origin, bought Wyer Hall in 1609. Huxley himself was described by Wood as a Presbyterian, but he played no known part in the Civil War. It is not clear when he first came into Oxfordshire, but by 1660 he was living in a house (probably rented) behind Pembroke College ‘on the south side’. Elected to the Convention for Oxford after a contest, he made no recorded speeches, and was appointed to only nine committees of secondary importance, including those to consider an additional clause in the judicial proceedings bill and the bills to levy arrears of assessment and to prevent swearing and cursing. He probably voted with the Presbyterian Opposition. He was mentioned as a candidate in 1661, but did not go to the poll. He is said to have been a great improver of clover on his Dornford estate. He also owned lands in Huntingdonshire and Somerset, but these were not extensive. His will, signed on 31 Oct. 1672, was proved on 28 Feb. 1673. He was the only member of the family to sit in Parliament.3Mdx. Peds. (Harl. Soc. lxv), 111; Wood’s Life and Times (Oxf. Hist. Soc. xix), 311, 399; Hearth-Tax Returns (Oxf. Rec. Soc. xxi), 127; HMC Hastings, ii. 166; Ped. Reg. i. 122.