Sir Erasmus Dryden, 1st Baronet

Sir Erasmus Dryden, 1st Baronet (20 December 1553 – 22 May 1632) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1624.

Family Erasmus Dryden was the son of John Dryden who built Canons Ashby House, Northamptonshire. Erasmus' mother, Elizabeth Cope, was the daughter of Sir John Cope, from whose heirs the Drydens purchased the priory and village remnants of the Canons Ashby estate. Sir Erasmus Dryden married Frances Wilkes, daughter of William Wilkes of Hodnell, Warwickshire. They had 3 sons and 4 daughters. His eldest son John succeeded to the Baronetcy.

Sir Erasmus Dryden was the grandfather of the poet and first Poet Laureate, John Dryden In 1624, Dryden was elected Member of Parliament for Banbury in the Happy Parliament.