Ralph Hare

Sir Ralph Hare, 1st Baronet (24 March 1623 - 28 February 1672) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1654 and 1672.

Hare was the son of Sir John Hare and his wife Elizabeth Coventry, only daughter of Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry by his 1st wife Sarah Sebright. He was the great-grandson of Sir Nicholas Hare, Speaker of the House of Commons from 1539 to 1540, who purchased the Stow Bardolph estate in 1553. He was created a baronet, of Stow Bardolph in the County of Norfolk on 23 July 1641 ^[1] and appointed Sheriff of Norfolk for 1650.^[2]

In 1654, Hare was elected Member of Parliament for Norfolk in the First Protectorate Parliament. He was re-elected MP for Norfolk in 1656 for the Second Protectorate Parliament.^[3]

In 1660, Hare was elected MP for King's Lynn in the Convention Parliament.^[4] He was elected MP for Norfolk in 1661 for the Cavalier Parliament and sat until his death in 1672.^[5]

Hare died at the age of 48.

Hare married firstly Mary Crane, daughter of Sir Robert Crane, 1st Baronet of Chilton, Suffolk, by whom he had seven children, of whom Thomas succeeded him. He married secondly, Vere Townshend, daughter of Sir Roger Townshend, 1st Baronet of Raynham, Norfolk, but by her had no issue. He married thirdly Elizabeth Chapman of Suffolk, and by that lady left a posthumous son, John, who died in infancy.^[1]

References

1. John Burke, John Bernard Burke A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies
2. "HARE, Sir Ralph, 1st Bt. (1623-72), of Stow Bardolph, Norf.". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 2012-04-13.
3. Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. pp. 229–239.
4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 2)
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 2)