Samuel Moyer (c. 1609–1683) was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1653. He was a strong republican and supporter of the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War.
Biography
[edit]Moyer was a merchant in the City of London and a member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers.[1] He was a strong supporter of parliament and the Commonwealth. In 1652 he was a member of Hale Commission which made a fundamental examination of the law and introduced many aspects of the criminal justice system.
Moyer was one of a number of radical puritans who had a house in Clapham Surrey, in his case from 1652 to 1662. A number of his associates such as Richard Salwey and William Kiffin were there at the same time.[2]
In 1653, Moyer became an Alderman of the City of London for Cheap ward[1] and was then nominated as Member of Parliament for City of London in the Barebones Parliament.[3] In the same year he was Master of the Mercer's Company. He was acting president of the Council of State from 4 October 1653 to 3 November 1653. He was by 1659 chairman of the London Committee for Compounding. On 15 February 1659, he presented a petition to the House of Commons on behalf of the Commonwealth.[4]
In 1661 Moyer was arrested and charged with treason alongside James Harrington and Praise-God Barebone. He was then imprisoned in the Tower of London until his brother Laurence secured his release in 1667.
Family
[edit]Moyer was the father of Samuel Moyer who was also a merchant and was created a baronet in 1701 (see Moyer Baronets).[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b 'Aldermen of the City of London: Cheap ward', The Aldermen of the City of London: Temp. Henry III - 1912 (1908), pp. 99-106. Date accessed: 16 July 2011
- ^ "Home". claphamhistorian.com.
- ^ Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. pp. 229–239.
- ^ 'The Diary of Thomas Burton: 15 February 1658-9', Diary of Thomas Burton esq, volume 3: January - March 1659 (1828), pp. 288-296. Date accessed: 16 July 2011
- ^ 'Notes on the aldermen, 1502-1700', The Aldermen of the City of London: Temp. Henry III - 1912 (1908), pp. 168-195. Date accessed: 16 July 2011