1640 in England explained

Events from the year 1640 in England.

Incumbents

Monarch – Charles I

Events

5 January – Parliament fixes a quorum of 40 for its proceedings to be transacted.^[1]
12 January – Thomas Wentworth becomes Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and Earl of Strafford.^[2]
17 January – John Finch becomes Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.^[2]
13 April – King Charles I summons the Short Parliament in an attempt to fund the Second Bishops' War against the Scottish Covenanters.^[2]
17 April – John Pym makes a speech attacking the King in Parliament.^[2]
4 May – Oliver St John calls on Parliament to outlaw ship money.^[2]
5 May – the King dismisses the Short Parliament and prepares to attack Scotland.^[2]
6 May – the Earl of Warwick, Lord Brooke, Lord Saye, John Pym, John Hampden, and Sir Walter Earle arrested.^[2]
20 August – a Scottish Covenanter army invades Northumberland.^[2]
28 August – Battle of Newburn: the Covenanter army defeats the English army.^[2]
26 October – Treaty of Ripon signed between the King and the Covenanters.^[2]
3 November – the Long Parliament is summoned;^[2] it will not be dissolved for 20 years.
25 November – the Earl of Strafford imprisoned in the Tower of London.^[2]
11 December – a crowd of 1,500 Londoners presents the Root and Branch petition to the Long Parliament, calling for the abolition of episcopacy in the Church of England.
18 December – Archbishop Laud impeached for treason.^[2]
undated – Habeas Corpus Act ("An Act for the Regulating the Privie Councell and for taking away the Court commonly called the Star Chamber") passed, abolishing the Star Chamber.^[3]

Births

11 January – Sir Robert Burdett, 3rd Baronet, politician (died 1716)
25 January – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, soldier and statesman (died 1707)
6 February – William Campion, politician (died 1702)
13 February – Richard Edgcumbe, politician (died 1688)
29 February – Benjamin Keach, Particular Baptist preacher (died 1704)
30 March – John Trenchard, statesman (died 1695)
19 June – Thomas Widdrington, politician (died 1660)
29 June – Elizabeth Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield (died 1665)^[4]
12 October – Sir Roger Twisden, 2nd Baronet (died 1703)
18 October – William Stanley, Member of Parliament (died 1670)
23 October – Elisabeth Pepys, née de St Michel, wife of Samuel (died 1669)
28 October – Streynsham Master, colonial administrator (died 1724)
5 November – John Verney, 1st Viscount Fermanagh, politician and merchant (died 1717)
17 November – Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, née Villiers, a mistress of King Charles II (died 1709)
7 December (bapt.) – Fabian Stedman, pioneer of change ringing (died 1713)
13 December – Robert Plot, naturalist (died 1696)
14 December – Aphra Behn, née Amis, Johnson or Cooper?, author (died 1689)

Deaths

14 January – Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry, lawyer and judge (born 1578)
25 January – Robert Burton, scholar (born 1577)
17 March – Philip Massinger, dramatist (born 1583)
22 March – Thomas Carew, poet (born 1595)
28 April (bur.) – William Alabaster, poet and dramatist (born 1567)
3 June – Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, politician (born 1584)
20 October – John Ball, Puritan clergyman (born 1585)
13 November – Laurence Chaderton, academic and churchman (born 1536)
8 December – Princess Anne, daughter of King Charles I (born 1637)

Notes and References

Book: Moran, Thomas Francis. The Theory and Practice of the English Government. London. Longmans, Green. 1903. 264–265.
Web site: British Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Protectorate 1638-60. 2007-04-28. 2012-04-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20120419132637/http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/timelines/1640.htm. dead.
Web site: Charles I, 1640: An Act for [the Regulating the Privie Councell and for taking away the Court commonly called the Star Chamber]]. British History Online. 2011-01-27.
Book: MacLeod, Catharine. Painted Ladies: women at the court of Charles II. National Portrait Gallery. London. 2001. 9781855143210 .