Edward Phelips (speaker)

Sir Edward Phelips, by unknown artist
Arms of Phelips: Argent, a chevron gules between three roses of the second seeded or barbed vert

Sir Edward Phelips (c. 1555/1560 – 1614) was an English lawyer and politician, the Speaker of the English House of Commons from 1604 until 1611, and subsequently Master of the Rolls from 1611 until his death in 1614. He was an elected MP from 1584, and in 1588, following a successful career as a lawyer, he commissioned Montacute House to be built as a country house for himself and his family on the family estate in Somerset. He was knighted in 1603[1] and one of his major roles was as the opening prosecutor during the trial of the Gunpowder Plotters.[2]

He married Margaret Newdigate, and his son, Sir Robert Phelips, inherited his land and property.[3]

  1. ^ "Details, Somerset HER". Retrieved 2 July 2008.
  2. ^ "The Gunpowder Plot: Parliament & Treason 1605 - People". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2008.
  3. ^ Manning, James Alexander (1851). The Lives of the Speakers of the House of Commons. G. Willis. pp. 284.