Peter Sainthill

Peter Sainthill (8 July 1593 – 12 August 1648) of Bradninch in Devon, England, was twice elected a Member of Parliament for Tiverton in Devon, in the Short Parliament 1640 and in the Long Parliament in November 1640. He was a strong supporter of the Royalist side in the Civil War. He was "a man of culture and unaffected simplicity of character, (who) represents the Cavalier cause at its best". He was the subject of a lengthy Puritan verse satire, known as Peter's Banquet or The Cavalier in the Dumps, written circa 1645. Origins Sainthill was born on 8 July 1593 at Bradninch, the son of Peter II Sainthill (1561-1618) of Bradninch House (eldest son and heir of Peter I Sainthill (c.1524-1571) of Bradninch, MP) by his wife Elizabeth Martin (d.1613), a daughter of Thomas Martin (1520/1–1592/3) of Steeple Morden in Cambridgeshire, Doctor of Civil Law and Member of Parliament. The Sainthill family originated at the manor of Saint Hill, Devon, six miles north-east of Bradninch. Career He was educated at the Free Grammar School (now Blundell's School) at Tiverton, Devon, six miles south-east of Bradninch, founded by the will of the wealthy clothier Peter Blundell (c.1520-1601). As one of the earliest pupils of that school his biography is included in the Worthies of Blundell's by M.L. Banks (1904). He served in the honourable office of Recorder of Bradninch, an ancient borough the manor of which was caput of the feudal barony of Bradninch long held by the Dukes of Cornwall, eldest sons and heirs apparent to the ruling monarch.