Christopher Wray

Sir Christopher Wray (7 May 1601 – 6 February 1646) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1646. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War.

Early life Wray was born on 7 May 1601 at Ashby, Lincolnshire. He was the son of Sir William Wray, 1st Baronet, of Glentworth of Ashby and Barlings, Lincolnshire and, his second wife, Frances ( Drury), Lady Clifford, widow of Sir Nicholas Clifford of Bobbing, Kent. From his father's first marriage to Lucy Montagu (eldest daughter of Edward Montagu), his elder half-siblings included Sir John Wray, 2nd Baronet, Edward Wray (a Groom of the Bedchamber who married Elizabeth Norris), and Elizabeth Wray (who married Sir Francis Foljambe, 1st Baronet). From his parents' marriage, his siblings included Charles Wray (who was killed fighting in Spain), and Frances Wray (who married Sir Anthony Irby).

His paternal grandparents were Christopher Wray, the Chief Justice of the King's Bench who served as Speaker of the House of Commons, and Anne Girlington (a daughter of Nicholas Girlington of Normanby, Yorkshire). His maternal grandparents were Sir William Drury of Hawsted, Suffolk, and Elizabeth Stafford (the daughter of courtier Sir William Stafford). After her grandfather's death in 1590, her grandmother, a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I, married Sir John Scott.

Career In 1621, he was elected as a Member of Parliament for Grimsby. He was knighted on 12 November 1623. He was re-elected MP for Grimsby in 1624 and 1625. He was elected again in 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.

Personal life On 3 August 1623, at St Mary's Church, Wimbledon, Wray married Albinia Cecil (1603–1703), daughter of Sir Edward Cecil (later 1st Viscount Wimbledon) and Theodosia Noel (a daughter of Sir Andrew Noel). Together, they had six sons and six daughters, including:

Frances Wray (–1679), who married Sir Henry Vane the Younger, the eldest child of Sir Henry Vane the Elder, in 1640. Elizabeth Wray (1635–1658), who married Sir William Eliot, a son of Sir William Eliot, MP for Haslemere, in 1652. After her death in 1658, he married Barbara Godfrey. in 1662. a son of Maj-Gen. Rowland Laugharne, MP for Pembroke.

Sir Christopher died on 8 February 1646 in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire.

Through his son Edward, he was a grandfather of Sir Baptist Edward Wray, 8th Baronet, who died without issue in 1689.

Through his son Drury, he was a grandfather of Sir Christopher Wray, 10th Baronet and Sir Cecil Wray, 11th Baronet (whose heiress was his illegitimate daughter, Anne Casey, wife of Lord Vere Bertie).

Through his daughter Elizabeth, he was a grandfather of Albinia Eliot (1658–1717), who married George Courthope, son of George Courthope, MP for Sussex and East Grinstead, in 1684.

Through his son Cecil, he was a grandfather of William Wray (1663–1712), who married Isabella Ullithorne (parents of Sir John Wray, 12th Baronet and grandparents of Sir Cecil Wray, 13th Baronet).