William Prynne 1600-1669

William PRYNNE 1600-69

Biographical Note

Born at Upper Swainswick, Somerset, son of Thomas Prynne, farmer. BA Oriel College, Oxford 1621, the year he was admitted at Lincoln's Inn (barrister, 1628). During the 1630s he became a vigorous pamphleteer, writing against what he perceived as the debasement of the Church and the corruption of morals; he was imprisoned, fined and mutilated. He became a major champion of the sovereignty of parliament during the 1640s, but sought a negotiated settlement with the King, and opposed his execution. He was MP for Newport in 1648; after the Restoration, he was MP and Recorder for Bath, and was appointed keeper of the records at the Tower of London.

Books

Prynne donated books to Lincoln’s Inn Library, and bequeathed any of his books they wanted to Oriel College, Oxford. His private papers were sought, after his death, by several parties but were never found.

Sources

• Lamont, William. "Prynne, William (1600–1669), pamphleteer and lawyer." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• Morgan, P. Oxford libraries outside the Bodleian. 2nd edn, Oxford, 1980.