# John Comyns

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{{Short description|English judge and Member of Parliament}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}
'''Sir John Comyns''' (c. 1667 – 1 November 1740), of [Writtle](/source/Writtle) in [Essex](/source/Essex), was an English judge and [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/comyns-john-1667-1740|title=COMYNS, John (c.1667-1740), of Hylands, nr. Chelmsford and Writtle, Essex|publisher=History of Parliament Online|accessdate= 5 September 2018}}</ref>

thumb|Hylands House, Writtle, near Chelmsford

==Early life==
He was born the eldest surviving son of William Comyns, barrister, of Lincoln's Inn and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter and coheiress of Matthew Rudd of Little Baddow, Essex. He was educated at [Felsted School](/source/Felsted_School) and [Queens' College, Cambridge](/source/Queens'_College%2C_Cambridge).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.queens.cam.ac.uk/page-242|title=Eminent alumni &#124; Queens' College}}</ref>

==Career==
{{Unsourced|section|date=January 2023}}
Comyns was a member of [Lincoln's Inn](/source/Lincoln's_Inn), and was [called to the bar](/source/Call_to_the_bar) in 1690. He entered Parliament in 1701 as member for [Maldon](/source/Maldon_(UK_Parliament_constituency)), and represented that borough for 17 of the next 26 years (1701–08, 1710–15 and 1722–26). 

On the three separate occasions on which he was returned for Maldon, his opponents petitioned against his election, alleging bribery or improper conduct by the bailiff (who was the [returning officer](/source/returning_officer) for the borough); but their only success was in 1715 when they also accused him of having refused to take the Qualification Oath, and his election, in that case, was declared void on those grounds.

He was made [serjeant-at-law](/source/serjeant-at-law) in 1705, and was appointed a [Baron of the Exchequer](/source/Baron_of_the_Exchequer) and knighted in 1726, a Justice of [Common Pleas](/source/Court_of_Common_Pleas_(England)) in 1736 and [Chief Baron of the Exchequer](/source/Chief_Baron_of_the_Exchequer) in 1738.

==Works==
Comyns is the author of ''Reports of Cases adjudged in the Courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer.'' This work was written in [law French](/source/law_French). The ''Reports'' were translated by the judge's nephew J. Comyns of the Inner Temple, and published in one volume in 1744, with the sanction and approbation of the judges. They were re-edited in 1792 by [Samuel Rose](/source/Samuel_Rose_(barrister)). He is also the author of ''[A Digest of the Laws of England](/source/Comyns'_Digest)''. This work too was written in law French, and afterwards translated.<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Comyns, John|first=James McMullen|last=Rigg|volume=11|page=464}}</ref>

==Hylands House==
Around 1726, Sir John Comyns purchased the manor of Shaxstones in Writtle, and commissioned the construction of a new family home on the estate, suitable for a man of his standing. 

Completed in 1730, [Hylands House](/source/Hylands_House) was an elegant two-storey red brick building in [Queen Anne style architecture](/source/Queen_Anne_style_architecture). The grounds were set out in the formal geometric style fashionable at the time, with a pleasure garden and small kitchen garden to the north of the house. It is now a [Grade II* listed building](/source/Grade_II*_listed_building).<ref>{{NHLE |num= 1264253|desc= Hylands|accessdate= 5 September 2018|mode=cs2}}</ref>

==Family==
{{Unsourced|section|date=January 2023}}
He married three times; firstly Anne, daughter and coheiress of Dr Nathaniel Gurdon, rector of Chelmsford, secondly Elizabeth Courthorpe of Kent and thirdly Anne Wilbraham. He left no children. Hylands passed to a nephew, also John Comyns, after the death of his [widow](/source/widow).

==See also==
* [William Chaloner](/source/William_Chaloner)

==References==
* {{Rayment|date=February 2012}}
* ''Concise Dictionary of National Biography'' (1930)
*[Robert Beatson](/source/Robert_Beatson), ''A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament'' (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gh2wKY2rkDUC&q=Return+of+Members+of+Parliament&pg=PP9]
* T. H. B .Oldfield, ''The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland'' (London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1816)

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{succession box | before=[Sir James Reynolds, junior](/source/Sir_James_Reynolds%2C_junior) | title=[Chief Baron of the Exchequer](/source/Chief_Baron_of_the_Exchequer) | years=1738–1740| after=[Sir Edmund Probyn](/source/Edmund_Probyn)}}
|-
{{s-par|en}}
{{succession box 
  | title = [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament) for [Maldon](/source/Maldon_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | with=[William Fytche](/source/William_Fytche)
  | years = 1701&ndash;1707
  | before = [William Fytche](/source/William_Fytche) <br />[Irby Montagu](/source/Irby_Montagu)
  | after = Parliament of Great Britain
}}
{{s-par|gb}}
{{succession box 
  | title = [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament) for [Maldon](/source/Maldon_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | with=[Thomas Richmond](/source/Thomas_Richmond) 1710&ndash;1711 | with2=[William Fytche](/source/William_Fytche) 1711&ndash;1712 | with3=[Thomas Bramston](/source/Thomas_Bramston_(1658%E2%80%931737)) 1712&ndash;1715
  | years = 1710&ndash;1715
  | before = [Sir Richard Child, Bt](/source/Richard_Tylney%2C_1st_Earl_Tylney) <br />[Thomas Richmond](/source/Thomas_Richmond)
  | after = [Thomas Bramston](/source/Thomas_Bramston_(1658%E2%80%931737)) <br />[Samuel Tufnell](/source/Samuel_Tufnell)
}}
{{succession box 
  | title = [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament) for [Maldon](/source/Maldon_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | with=[Thomas Bramston](/source/Thomas_Bramston_(1658%E2%80%931737))
  | years = 1722&ndash;1727
  | before = [Thomas Bramston](/source/Thomas_Bramston_(1658%E2%80%931737)) <br />[Samuel Tufnell](/source/Samuel_Tufnell)
  | after = [Thomas Bramston](/source/Thomas_Bramston_(1691%E2%80%931765)) <br />[Henry Parsons](/source/Henry_Parsons_(English_politician))
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comyns, John}}
Category:1660s births
Category:1740 deaths
Category:People from Writtle
Category:People educated at Felsted School
Category:Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge
Category:Members of Lincoln's Inn
Category:Serjeants-at-law (England)
Category:Chief Barons of the Exchequer
Category:Justices of the common pleas
Category:Barons of the Exchequer
Category:Knights Bachelor
Category:Members of Parliament for Maldon
Category:English MPs 1701–1702
Category:English MPs 1702–1705
Category:English MPs 1705–1707
Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
Category:British MPs 1710–1713
Category:British MPs 1713–1715
Category:British MPs 1722–1727

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [John Comyns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Comyns) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Comyns?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.