FREKE, John (1589-1641), of Westbrooke House, Upwey, Dorset; later of Cerne Abbey, Dorset and Peper Harrow, Surr.

Freke was apparently overshadowed for most of his life by his father, and even copied the preamble to the latter’s will almost word for word. His first marriage was arranged by his kinsman William Pitt*, to whom he doubtless also owed his return for Wareham in 1614. PROB 11/164, f. 341v; 11/188, f. 167; Add. 29974, f. 26. He had little impact on the Addled Parliament, being named only to the conference with the Lords on the bill to settle the succession following the recent marriage of Princess Elizabeth and the Elector Palatine (14 April). Procs. 1614 (Commons), 82. In December 1620 Freke was replaced at Wareham by his brother-in-law John Trenchard*, and instead found a seat at Weymouth, four miles from his home at Upwey. Vis. Dorset (Harl. Soc. xx), 94; Hutchins, Dorset, ii. 845; The Ancestor, x. 198. Marginally more active during the 1621 session, he was appointed to attend conferences with the Lords concerning the petition against recusants (15 Feb.) and the bill on informers (1 December). CJ, i. 522b, 654b. Re-elected for the same borough in 1624, he left no further trace on the Commons’ records, and apparently never stood again.

Freke purchased Cerne Abbey from the Crown in 1625, probably with his father’s assistance, and on the basis of this property compounded for knighthood six years later at £15. CSP Dom. 1623-5, p. 511; Add. 29974, f. 193; Som. and Dorset N and Q, iv. 17. However, following his second marriage he preferred to reside at Peper Harrow, his wife’s jointure estate in Surrey. VCH Surr. iii. 51; The Ancestor, x. 199. Consequently, although he succeeded to his patrimony in 1633, he failed to emulate his father’s prominence in Dorset affairs. Even when appointed as county sheriff three years later, he obtained permission to exercise this office in absentia, apparently employing as his deputy his son George, son-in-law to the Dorset-based 1st earl of Bristol (Sir John Digby*). This refusal to act in person not only damaged Freke’s local reputation, but also caused particular problems later in the year when he needed to collect Ship Money arrears and it emerged that his son was one of the defaulters. He eventually secured all but £152 7s. 9½d. of the £5,000 demanded by the government. CSP Dom. 1635-6, p. 220; Add. 29974, f. 254; The Ancestor, x. 198; Som. and Dorset N and Q, xiii. 189; M.D. Gordon, ‘Collection of Ship Money in the Reign of Chas. I’, TRHS (ser. 3), iv. 157. Freke’s limited contact with Dorset may help to explain why he was the only gentleman of that county to contribute towards the costs of the First Bishops’ War. PC2/51, p. 77. He died in November 1641, and his widow later married Denzil Holles*. Freke’s youngest son, Thomas, represented Dorset in the Commons from 1679 till his death in 1701. HP Commons, 1660-90, ii. 365.