# Samuel Luke

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**Sir Samuel Luke** (21 March 1603[1] – 30 August 1670) sat in the [House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_England) from 1640 to 1653 and in 1660, and was an officer in the Parliamentary army during the [English Civil War](/source/English_Civil_War).

## Life

Luke was born 21 March 1603 and baptised at six days old in [Southill, Bedfordshire](/source/Southill,_Bedfordshire).[1] He was the son of [Sir Oliver Luke](/source/Oliver_Luke) and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Sir [Valentine Knightley](/source/Valentine_Knightley_(died_1618)) of Fawsley, [Northants](/source/Northants). He attended [Eton](/source/Eton_College) from 1617 to 1619 and travelled abroad in 1623.[2] He was knighted on 20 July 1624. In April 1640, Luke was elected [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament) for [Bedford](/source/Bedford_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) in the [Short Parliament](/source/Short_Parliament) and was re-elected for the [Long Parliament](/source/Long_Parliament) in November 1640.[2] In the latter election he is known to have had the support of much of [John Bunyan](/source/John_Bunyan)'s future congregation.[3]

Luke was governor of the Parliamentary outpost in [Newport Pagnell](/source/Newport_Pagnell), [Buckinghamshire](/source/Buckinghamshire) from late 1642 until June 1644 during the [English Civil War](/source/English_Civil_War) [4] During the war he was also Scoutmaster to [the Earl of Essex](/source/Robert_Devereux,_3rd_Earl_of_Essex).[4][a] He subscribed to the [Solemn League and Covenant](/source/Solemn_League_and_Covenant) and in 1648 was secluded from the Long Parliament under [Pride's Purge](/source/Pride's_Purge).[5]

Luke inherited the family estate on the death of his father in 1651.[2] In April 1660, he was re-elected MP for Bedford in the [Convention Parliament](/source/Convention_Parliament_(1660)).[2] He died in 1670 and was buried on 30 August in [Cople](/source/Cople), [Bedfordshire](/source/Bedfordshire).[2]

## Mention in literature

It is thought that Sir Samuel Luke was the basis for the title character of the satirical heroic poem *[Hudibras](/source/Hudibras)* (1662) by [Samuel Butler](/source/Samuel_Butler_(poet)).[2]

## Family

On 2 February 1624, Luke married Elizabeth, daughter of William Freeman, haberdasher and merchant, of London.[2]

## Notes

1. Everard

1. *England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975*

1. Helms, Naylor & Jaggar 1983.

1. Hirst 1975, pp. 123–4.

1. Tibbutt 1959, pp. 91–92.

1. Parliament of Great Britain 1753, pp. 13, 14.

## References

- Parliament of Great Britain (1753). *The parliamentary or constitutional history of England;: being a faithful account of all the most remarkable transactions in Parliament, from the earliest times. Collected from the journals of both Houses, the records, ...*. Vol. 9. Printed; and sold by William Sandby. pp. [13](https://books.google.com/books?id=WykOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA13), 14.
- Helms, M. W.; Naylor, Leonard; Jaggar, Geoffrey (1983), ["Luke, Sir Samuel (1603-70), of Woodend, Cople, Beds"](http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/luke-sir-samuel-1603-70), "The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690", Henning, B.D. (ed.), History of Parliament Online
- Hirst, Derek (1975). *The Representative of the People?: Votes and Voting in England under the Early Stuarts*. pp. 123–4.
- Tibbutt, H.G. (1959). "The Civil War Letter-Books of Sir Samuel Luke". *Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research*. **37** (150): 91–92.

## External links

- [findagrave.com burial record](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/175672793/samuel-luke)

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