MANWOOD, Roger (1591-1623), of Hackington, Kent

A Roger Manwood of Clifford’s Inn wrote to his cousin Sir Peter Manwood in 1609, Add. 29759, f. 170. but the Member concerned was almost certainly Sir Peter’s eldest son. Sir Peter was a London neighbour of Sir Anthony Mildmay† of Apethorpe, Northamptonshire, as the two men had townhouses in Smithfield, E.A. Webb, Recs. of St. Bartholomew Smithfield, ii. 266-7. and may have supported Mildmay’s son-in-law Sir Francis Fane* in Kent. Consequently, Manwood was elected for Peterborough on the Apethorpe interest in May 1614. He left no trace on the records of the Addled Parliament.

Following a thorough education that ended with his stint in Parliament, Manwood was matched to the daughter of Thomas, Lord Darcy, who was reported to the Commons in 1624 as a recusant. CJ, i. 776a. Although promised lands by his father worth £1,000 p.a., he did not receive them owing to Sir Peter’s considerable debts. In about 1621 Sir Peter conveyed his estate to trustees, who were instructed to raise £8,250 for Manwood by selling land. However, Sir Peter’s creditors had the lands extended, and since Manwood had stood as surety for his father’s debts he was continually in danger of arrest. Abandoned by Sir Peter, who fled abroad in 1622, Manwood appealed to Chancery, LC4/198, f. 474v; C3/337/51; C2/Jas.I/M4/31. but died in December 1623 before a settlement could be reached. His mother-in-law correctly guessed that there would be trouble over her daughter’s jointure, which was still in dispute in 1628. CSP Dom. 1623-5, p. 136; 1628-9, p. 438.