George Wentworth (of Woolley)

Sir George Wentworth (of Woolley) (1599 – 18 October 1660) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1642. He fought for the Royalist army in the English Civil War.

Wentworth was the son of Michael Wentworth of Woolley and his wife Frances Downes, daughter of George Downes of Paunton, Herefordshire.^[1] He was knighted at Whitehall on 25 April 1630.^[2]

In April 1640, Wentworth was elected Member of Parliament for Pontefract in the Short Parliament. He was re-elected MP for Pontefract for the Long Parliament in November 1640.^[3] On the outbreak of the English Civil War, he joined the Royalist cause and was disabled from sitting in parliament in September 1642. He raised a regiment for the King, at his own expense.^[1]

Wentworth died at the age of 60 and was buried at the church of St Peter, Woolley, where there is a memorial in the Wentworth Chapel.^[4]

Wentworth married twice. His first marriage was to Anne Fairfax, daughter of Thomas, Lord Fairfax of Denton, by whom he had two sons. His second marriage was to Everild Maltby, second daughter of Christopher Maltby of Maltby, and by her he had further children.^[1] She was a matrilineal descendant of Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, and the mitochondrial DNA descent through which the remains of Richard III of England were identified in 2013 passes through her and their daughter Frances:^[5][6]

References

1. John Burke A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain Volume 3
2. Knights of England
3. Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. pp. 229–239.
4. Woolley Church Archived 2012-03-19 at the Wayback Machine
5. "Richard III - Family tree - Ann of York - Michael Ibsen - University of Leicester".
6. Turi E. King; et al. (2014). "Figure 1: Genealogical links between Richard III and modern-day relatives who participated in this study". Nature Communications. 5: 5631. doi:10.1038/ncomms6631. PMC 4268703. PMID 25463651.

Parliament of England
Vacant Parliament suspended since 1629	Member of Parliament for Pontefract 1640 – 1642 With: Sir John Ramsden 1640 Sir George Wentworth of Wentworth Woodhouse	Succeeded by Henry Arthington William White