Sir Gilbert Gerard, 1st Baronet of Harrow on the Hill

Sir Gilbert Gerard, 1st Baronet of Harrow on the Hill (23 October 1587 – 6 January 1670) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1660. He was a supporter of the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War and of Oliver Cromwell during the Protectorate.

Biography Gerard was the son of William Gerard (died 1609) of Flambards, Harrow-on-the-Hill and his wife Dorothy Ratcliff, daughter of John Ratcliff of Langley. He succeeded his father in 1609, inheriting Flambards in Harrow .

Gilbert served as Clerk of the Council of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1609 to 1640. He was elected Member of Parliament for Wigan in 1614 and created a baronet in 1620. In 1621 he was elected MP for Middlesex. In 1624, he was elected MP for both Middlesex and Newtown, Isle of Wight but chose to sit for Middlesex. He was elected again for Middlesex in 1625 and 1626. In 1626, he was also appointed High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire.

In April 1640, Gerard was elected MP for Middlesex for the Short Parliament and in November the same year for the Long Parliament. He was appointed Colonel of the Middlesex Trained Bands and to the Committee of Both Kingdoms, and he was made paymaster of the Parliamentary army. He had three-pence in the pound allowance, worth fifty thousand pounds and also was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell made him a lord of his Upper House.

Family In 1614 Gerard married Mary, a daughter of Sir Francis Barrington and Joan Cromwell, and a cousin of Oliver Cromwell. He thereby acquired that year the manor of Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire.