Oliver St John ca.1584-1646

Oliver ST JOHN, 1st Earl of Bolingbroke ca.1584-1646

Armorial stamp of Oliver St John (British Armorial Bindings).

Biographical Note

Son of Oliver St John, 3rd Baron St John of Bletso (c.1545-1618). Matriculated at Peterhouse, Cambridge in 1595, entered Gray's Inn in 1597. MP for Bedfordshire in 1601 and 1604. He managed the family estates from 1609. Made Knight of the Bath in 1610, succeeded his father as 4th Baron St John of Bletso in 1618 and entered the House of Lords in 1620. Created Earl of Bolingbroke in 1624 and Lord Lieutenant for Huntingdonshire from 1625-1630 and for Bedfordshire 1643. He was appointed a lay member of the Westminster assembly in the same year, and was named one of the commissioners for the custody of the great seal in 1643 and 1646.

Books

Books with his armorial stamps survive.

Sources

• British Armorial Bindings.
• Kelsey, Sean. '"St John, Oliver, first earl of Bolingbroke (c. 1584–1646), politician." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.