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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 and one of his major roles was as the opening prosecutor during the trial of the Gunpowder Plotters.

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

Life

He was fourth and youngest son of Thomas Phelips (1500–1588) of Montacute, Somerset, by his wife Elizabeth (d. 1598), daughter of John Smythe of Long Ashton in the same county. His father stood godfather to Thomas Coryate. Edward was born about 1560: according to Coryate, who refers to him as a patron, he was about 53 in 1613.

He joined the Middle Temple, where he was autumn reader in 1596. In 1584 he entered parliament as MP for Bere Alston, followed by terms as MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis in 1586, Penryn in 1593 and Andover in 1597. In 1601 he was elected knight of the shire for Somerset. On 11 February 1603 he was named serjeant-at-law, but Queen Elizabeth died, and he did not proceed to his degree until the following reign. On 17 May he was made king's serjeant and knighted. In November he took part in the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh. He was re-elected to parliament for Somerset on 11 February 1604, and on 19 March was elected speaker. According to Sir Julius Cæsar, he was the best speaker for some decades, and although long-winded, did expedite some business for the king.

On 17 July 1604 he was granted the office of justice of common pleas in the county palatine of Lancaster. In this capacity he was very active against Catholics; he is said to have declared that, as the law stood, all who were present when mass was celebrated were guilty of felony. He was one of those appointed to examine the Gunpowder Plot conspirators, and in January 1606 opened the indictment against Guy Fawkes. He was also chancellor to Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. On 2 December 1608 he was granted the reversion of the Master of the Rolls, but did not succeed to the office until January 1611.

In 1613 he was involved in the celebrations at the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate. He helped organise The Memorable Masque of the Middle Temple and Lincoln's Inn and paid Inigo Jones £110 for the scenery and stage-works. he was appointed ranger of all royal forests, parks, and chases in England.

Besides his London house in Chancery Lane, and another at Wanstead, Essex, where he entertained the king, Phelips built a large mansion in Somerset, Montacute House, which is still standing, and in the possession of the National Trust. He died on 11 September 1614, having married, firstly, Margaret (d. 28 April 1590), daughter of Robert Newdegate of Newdegate, Surrey, by whom he had two sons, Sir Robert and Francis; secondly, Elizabeth (d. 26 March 1638), daughter of Thomas Pigott of Doddershall House, Buckinghamshire.

Parliamentary convention

1. the 2d of April, 1604, rule. That a question being once made, and carried in the affirmative or negative, cannot be questioned again, but must stand as judgment of the House.
2. ...
3. ...
4. On the 1st of June, 1610, agreed for a rule. That no Bill of the same substance can be brought in the same session.

— John Hatsell, Rules of Proceeding, in Precedents of proceedings in the House of Commons: with observations

It was under Phelips that the "1604 rule" was established: a parliamentary convention that "no motion can be put by the Government to the Commons twice in the same parliamentary session if the wording is exactly or substantially the same." The rule was invoked 12 times between 1604 and 1920; and was also invoked in 2019 in relation to the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

References

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.
4. ^ "Phelips, Edward" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
5. HMC 3rd Report, Phelips of Montacute (London, 1872), p. 281.
6. Hatsell, John; Adams, John; Boston Public Library) John Adams Library BRL (19 March 1785). "Precedents of proceedings in the House of Commons : with observations". London : Printed for H. Hughs, for J. Dodsley ... – via Internet Archive.
7. "Explained: The '1604 rule' cited by Speaker ... and a question for all Scots". The National. 19 March 2019.

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Phelips, Edward". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

v t e Masters of the Rolls
Taylor Cromwell Hales Southwell Beaumont Bowes Hare Cordell Gerard Ellesmere Kinloss Phelips Julius Caesar Digges Charles Caesar Colepeper Lenthall Grimston Churchill Trevor Jekyll Verney Fortescue Strange Clarke Sewell Kenyon Arden Grant Plumer Gifford Lyndhurst Leach Cottenham Langdale Romilly Jessel Brett Lindley Alverstone Smith Collins Cozens-Hardy Swinfen Eady Sterndale Hanworth Wright Greene Evershed Denning Donaldson Bingham Woolf Phillips Clarke Neuberger Dyson Etherton Vos

v t e Speakers of the House of Commons (list)
House of Commons of England	14th century de Shareshull De la Mare Hungerford De la Mare Pickering Guildesborough Waldegrave Pickering Bussy Cheney Doreward Savage Redford Savage 15th century Esturmy Tiptoft Chaucer Stourton Doreward Hungerford Chaucer Redman Beauchamp Flower Hunt Chaucer Baynard Flower Russell Walton Vernon Tyrell Alington I Tyrell Russell Hunt Bowes Tyrell Burley W. Tresham Burley W. Tresham Say Popham I W. Tresham Oldhall Thorpe Charlton Wenlock T. Tresham Green Strangeways Say Alington II Wood Catesby Lovell Mordaunt Fitzwilliam Empson Drury Englefield 16th century Dudley Englefield Sheffield Nevill More Audley Wingfield Rich Hare Moyle Baker Dyer Pollard Broke Higham Cordell Gargrave T. Williams Onslow Wray Bell Popham II Puckering Snagge Coke Yelverton 17th century Croke Phelips R. Crewe Richardson T. Crewe H. Finch J. Finch Glanville Lenthall Pelham Lenthall Rous (Barebones Parliament) Lenthall Widdrington (2nd Protectorate Parliament) Chute, Long & Bampfield (3rd Protectorate Parliament) Lenthall Grimston Turnour Charlton Seymour Sawyer Seymour Gregory W. Williams Trevor Powle Trevor Foley Littleton 18th century Harley Smith
House of Commons of Great Britain	18th century Smith R. Onslow Bromley Hanmer Compton A. Onslow Cust Norton Cornwall Grenville Addington
House of Commons of the United Kingdom	19th century Addington Mitford Abbot Manners-Sutton Abercromby Shaw-Lefevre Denison Brand Peel Gully 20th century Lowther Whitley FitzRoy Brown Morrison Hylton-Foster King Lloyd Thomas Weatherill Boothroyd Martin 21st century Martin Bercow Hoyle

• 16th-century births
• 1614 deaths
• Speakers of the House of Commons of England
• Masters of the Rolls
• Knights Bachelor
• English MPs 1584–1585
• English MPs 1586–1587
• English MPs 1589
• English MPs 1593
• English MPs 1597–1598
• English MPs 1601
• English MPs 1604–1611
• Members of the Parliament of England for Bere Alston
• Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales