Henry Elsynge

Henry Elsynge (less often Elsyng or Elsing) (bap. 1577–1635) was an English parliamentary officer in the reigns of James I and Charles I. He served as Keeper of the Records in the Tower of London jointly with Robert Bowyer from 1604 to 1612, and was named to the office of Clerk of the Parliaments in 1621.

He is known for his treatise The Manner of Holding Parliaments in England, or, Modus tenendi parliamentum apud Anglos, which he completed in 1625, but which was published in 1660.

He is sometimes referred to as Henry Elsynge the elder to distinguish him from his son, also called Henry Elsynge (1606–1656).

Life and family

Henry Elsynge was probably born in 1577. He was baptised 21 August of that year at St Dunstan-in-the-West, London. He was the eldest son of Henry Elsynge (d. 1582) and his wife Frances, daughter of Edmund Browne. Both Elsynge's father and Edmund Browne were Merchant Taylors in the parish of St Dunstan-in-the-West. In 1584, Elsynge's widowed mother Frances married Henry Knyvett, the older half-brother of Robert Bowyer who would be Elsynge's mentor and partner throughout his career.

Robert Bowyer was sworn Clerk of the Parliaments, that is, senior clerk of the House of Lords, on 30 January 1610. following Bowyer's death on 15 March.

Death

Elsynge's will was dated 13 October 1635 and it is likely he died in November. He was succeeded as Clerk of the Parliaments by his half-brother Thomas Knyvett, who took office on 29 September 1635 and had died by 21 December 1637.

Works

Elsynge is best known today as a scholar and historian of Parliament. His studies of original documents as Keeper of the Records and his role in maintaining the records of the House of Lords in the tumultuous years leading up to the dissolution of Parliament inform his treatise, The Manner of Holding Parliaments in England, or, Modus tenendi parliamentum apud Anglos, which remained unfinished at his death. Book 1 of this work was published in 1660, and various chapters based on Elsynge's manuscripts have been published individually.

Bowyer and Elsynge's official notes as Clerks of the Parliaments were published as Notes of the Debates in the House of Lords Officially Taken by Robert Bowyer and Henry Elsing 1621, 1625, 1628, edited by Frances Helen Relf, Royal Historical Society, London, 1929.