Person:Edmund Prideaux (4)

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Edmund Prideaux (died 1659) of Forde Abbey, Thorncombe, Devon, was an English lawyer and Member of Parliament, who supported the Parliamentary cause during the Civil War. He was briefly solicitor-general but chose to resign rather than participate in the regicide of King Charles I and was afterwards attorney-general which position he held until he died. During the Civil War and for most of the First Commonwealth (1649-1660) he ran the postal service for Parliament.

Private practice and death

The loss of the office of postmaster and the carrying of letters affected Prideaux little. His legal practice continued to be large and lucrative, being worth £5,000 a year. He purchased Forde Abbey in the parish of Thorncombe, then in Devon, now in Dorset, where he built a large mansion house. On 31 May 1658 he was made a baronet by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, for "his voluntary offer for the mainteyning of thirty foot-souldiers in his highnes army in Ireland".

Marriages & progeny

Prideaux married twice:

• Firstly, on 23 August 1627, to Jane Collins (1610–1629), daughter and heiress of Henry Collins of Salston in the parish of Ottery St. Mary, Devon, by his wife Joan Pabant, daughter and heiress of Humphrey Pabant. She died and was buried on 16 November 1629 at Ottery.
• Secondly, shortly afterwards, he married Margaret Ivery (died 25 April 1683), a daughter and co-heiress of William Ivery of Cottey, Somerset, by whom he had one son:

• Edmund Prideaux, MP for Taunton. He took part in Monmouth's rebellion and bribed Judge Jeffreys heavily to save his life.

Death & succession

Prideaux died on 19 August 1659, at the age of 57, leaving a great fortune, and was buried in the Chapel at Forde Abbey. His estate and baronetcy were inherited by his only surviving son and heir Edmund Prideaux, MP for Taunton, but in 1660 the baronetcy passed into oblivion at the Restoration and unlike some others was not renewed.