PAKINGTON, Sir John, 1st Bt. (c.1600-1624), of Westwood Park, Worcs. and Aylesbury, Bucks.

The Pakington family had been settled in Worcestershire since the fifteenth century, and accumulated a substantial estate as a result of the dissolution of the monasteries. VCH Worcs. iii. 234-7; T. Habington, Survey Worcs. i. 243. This Member’s grandfather, Sir Thomas Pakington, inherited the manor of Aylesbury in 1545. VCH Bucks. iii. 7. Pakington’s father, a favourite of Elizabeth I, was known as ‘Lusty Pakington’. Renowned for his handsomeness, wit and athleticism, he lavishly entertained James I at Aylesbury in June 1603. Nichols, i. 192-3. Pakington himself was groomed to succeed his father: a baronetcy was purchased for him in 1620, and he was appointed chairman of the Worcestershire bench shortly after he came of age. His return in 1624 for Aylesbury, where his father usually nominated both Members, was probably intended to help round off his education.

Pakington played little part in the business of the House. The only legislative committees to which he was appointed concerned the Hertfordshire manor of Little Munden, and the Crown’s imposition on Newcastle coal (both 29 April). CJ, i. 778b. In his only Commons’ speech, on 8 Mar., he reported having witnessed various people carrying spades entering a building near the Painted Chamber at night. Pakington explained that he had duly notified lord keeper Williams, who had entreated him to remain silent so that a search could be made. The search found nothing, but Pakington was concerned that it might not have been thorough. Sir Robert Cotton*, whose residence adjoined the Painted Chamber, immediately volunteered to have his house searched to help eliminate any lingering suspicion. ‘Nicholas 1624’, ff. 56v-7; ‘Earle 1624’, f. 57; ‘Holland 1624’, i. f. 37v.

Pakington died intestate in October 1624; the parish register entry for his burial lamented the loss of ‘the hopes of Aylesbury’. R. Gibbs, Hist. Aylesbury, 142. When his father died a few months later, Pakington’s four-year old heir John was left to the care of a group of trustees, including Attorney-General Sir Thomas Coventry* and Sir William Borlase*. WARD 7/74/67; Cent. Bucks. Stud. D/X 1007/1-3; Worcs. RO, 705:380/BA 2309/61 (iii). John subsequently sat in the Short and Long Parliaments, the Oxford Royalist Parliament and the Cavalier Parliament.