Pym was the eldest son of Alexander Pym of Brymore, Somerset, who died when John was a child; his mother married Sir Anthony Rous, a client of the Russells, the earls of Bedford. Pym was educated at the University of Oxford, but took no degree, and at the Middle Temple, but was not called to the bar. Through Bedford influence he became a local official of the Exchequer. From 1621 to his death Pym sat in every Parliament, usually for the Russell borough of Tavistock. He soon made a name as an enemy of popery and Arminianism (high-church Anglicanism) in high places, and as a sound financier, an expert on colonial affairs, and a good committeeman. He was no extremist, however, but a loyal subject anxious to maintain good relations between crown and Parliament. From 1630 Pym was treasurer of the Providence Island Company, which sought to open trade with Spanish America--peacefully, if possible, by force, if not. From 1629 to 1640, during which period the king chose to rule without Parliament, this company brought together the men, mostly Puritans, who were to lead the Parliamentary party in the 1640s. Opposition to Charles's tax of "ship money" to support the Royal Navy (a tax without parliamentary approval) was organized by adventurers of the company; in August 1640 the petition of 12 peers demanding a Parliament was drafted by Pym and another adventurer. When the Long Parliament met in November 1640, Pym headed what has been called the middle group, whose central position allowed it to dominate the House of Commons. His policy was that of his patron, the Earl of Bedford: to force the king to accept a government in which Parliament, representing the wealth of the country, had confidence. Their main obstacle was Charles's toughest adviser, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, who was executed as a traitor in May 1641. It was difficult to prove a man deep in the king's confidence a traitor, but Pym argued that "to endeavor the subversion of the laws of this kingdom was treason of the highest nature." Thus, by implication, even a king was capable of committing treason: here was the germ of the charge on which Charles was to be executed in 1649. There were great popular demonstrations in London calling for Strafford's execution, and Pym was accused of fomenting them. Pym forced Charles to accept an act forbidding the dissolution of Parliament without its consent. This was followed by acts abolishing the whole apparatus of personal government and finance. On paper Charles had accepted that he must rule through Parliament, but he had no real intention of accepting this, and he had to be coerced. The main issue became control of the armed forces. When rebellion broke out in Ireland (October 1641), all agreed that it must be crushed; but Parliament rightly feared a military coup if the king were given command of the army. The House of Commons said it would act in Ireland without the king unless Charles changed his ministers. This virtual declaration of revolution was reinforced by the Grand Remonstrance, listing the grievances of the kingdom as Pym's group saw them and demanding ministers trusted by Parliament and an Assembly of Divines nominated by Parliament to reform the church. This Remonstrance, carried by 159 votes to 148, was printed and circulated to rally support outside Parliament; its opponents henceforth formed a Royalist party. Pym was one of five members of Parliament whom Charles tried to arrest in January 1642. They took refuge in the City of London, from which they returned in triumph when the king quitted London. Before and during the Civil Wars, Pym's political philosophy was summed up in the phrase "I know how to add sovereign to [the king's] person, but not to his power." He believed that the king reigned but did not rule alone: power should be balanced between him and Parliament. "To have printed liberties," Pym once said, "and not to have liberties in truth and realities, is but to mock the kingdom." Pym never seems to have contemplated abolishing the monarchy, and he was certainly no democrat; but he used popular pressure to achieve his ends. When war started, he set about creating an army, the machinery to administer it, and the excise and assessment (later the land tax) to pay for it. His City connections helped him to raise loans. He created the network of committees at Westminster and in the counties that ran the country for the next 17 years. When military stalemate threatened, Pym called in Scottish assistance even at the price of concessions to Presbyterianism that went further than he wished. Ever pragmatic, when the House of Lords made difficulties, he told them that the Commons could run the country alone. Assessment Pym was a sonorously eloquent speaker, arguing each particular issue from first principles without ever being doctrinaire. His skill as a parliamentary tactician was unrivaled. He balanced between radicals--some of whom were republicans--and the peace party, which was so frightened of social upheaval that it would have accepted almost any terms from the king. Pym preserved the unity of Parliament for three years with no party organization, no discipline, no whips. This great achievement wore him out, and when he died, no one could replace him; Parliament's supporters split into wrangling groups. But by then Pym had laid the basis for victory and had sketched the shape of the England that was to survive the 17th century. He was Puritan opposed equally to Roman Catholicism and to Arminianism in the Anglican church, Pym early became prominent in the parliamentary opposition to Charles I. He organized the impeachment (1626) of George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham, and the passage (1628) of the Petition of Right. In the 11-year interval between Parliaments (1629ö40), he supported the colonizing ventures of the Providence Island Company in the West Indies. Pym was the unquestioned leader of the House of Commons in the events leading up to the English civil war. His long speech in the Short Parliament (1640) listing popular grievances resulted in the dissolution of that Parliament. Resuming the attack in the Long Parliament (1640), he initiated the prosecution of Thomas Wentworth, earl of Strafford, and of Archbishop Laud; urged the abolition of the courts of high commission and the Star Chamber; proposed the abolition of episcopacy; and played a major role in drafting the Grand Remonstrance (1641). Pym was one of the five members of Commons whom Charles tried to remove (1642) by military arrest. After the outbreak (1642) of the civil war, Pym organized various taxation reforms for Parliament and imposed the first English excise duties. His last important act was the arrangement of an alliance with the Scots, based on English acceptance of the Solemn League and Covenant (1643) Covenanters in Scottish history, where groups of Presbyterians bound by oath to sustain each other in the defense of their religion. The first formal Covenant was signed in 1557, signaling the beginning of the Protestant effort to seize power in Scotland. It was renewed thereafter at times of crisis, most notably in the 17th cent. The National Covenant of 1638 aimed to unite the Scots in opposition to the Episcopal innovations of King Charles I and William Laud, especially the adaptation for Scottish use of the English Book of Common Prayer. The Covenanters successfully resisted the king's armies in the Bishops Wars (1639ö40). In the English civil war they supported the parliamentary party only after the English Parliament had accepted (1643) the Solemn League and Covenant, which provided for the eventual establishment of a Presbyterian state church in England and Ireland as well as in Scotland. After the first civil war, however, the Independents in the English army secured control of affairs and prevented implementation of the Covenant. The Scots, therefore, concluded the agreement known as the "Engagement" with Charles I, by which the king agreed to establish Presbyterianism in England if restored to the throne. As a result, the Covenanters fought for Charles I in the second civil war (1648) and, after his execution (1649), they fought for Charles II, who also subscribed (1650) to the Solemn League and Covenant. They were subdued, however, by Oliver Cromwell's conquest of Scotland (1650ö51). After the Restoration (1660), Charles II resumed his father's effort to impose episcopacy in Scotland. The Covenanters were subjected to alternate attempts to conciliate them and to hunt them down. The result was a series of new compacts of resistance among them and new attempts to suppress them. A rebellion in 1679, which culminated in a rout at Bothwell Bridge, was met with harsh repression, as was the resistance of Richard Cameron and his followers, who issued the Sanquhar Declaration in 1680. The troubles ended with the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which restored the Presbyterian Church in Scotland. Bibliography C.E. Wade, John Pym (1912, reprinted 1971); S. Reed Brett, John Pym, 1583-1643: The Statesman of the Puritan Revolution (1940) J.H. Hexter, The Reign of King Pym (1941, reissued 1975). (Bio by M. Pymm)
Pym was the eldest son of Alexander Pym of Brymore, Somerset, who died when John was a child; his mother married Sir Anthony Rous, a client of the Russells, the earls of Bedford. Pym was educated at the University of Oxford, but took no degree, and at the Middle Temple, but was not called to the bar. Through Bedford influence he became a local official of the Exchequer. From 1621 to his death Pym sat in every Parliament, usually for the Russell borough of Tavistock. He soon made a name as an enemy of popery and Arminianism (high-church Anglicanism) in high places, and as a sound financier, an expert on colonial affairs, and a good committeeman. He was no extremist, however, but a loyal subject anxious to maintain good relations between crown and Parliament. From 1630 Pym was treasurer of the Providence Island Company, which sought to open trade with Spanish America--peacefully, if possible, by force, if not. From 1629 to 1640, during which period the king chose to rule without Parliament, this company brought together the men, mostly Puritans, who were to lead the Parliamentary party in the 1640s. Opposition to Charles's tax of "ship money" to support the Royal Navy (a tax without parliamentary approval) was organized by adventurers of the company; in August 1640 the petition of 12 peers demanding a Parliament was drafted by Pym and another adventurer. When the Long Parliament met in November 1640, Pym headed what has been called the middle group, whose central position allowed it to dominate the House of Commons. His policy was that of his patron, the Earl of Bedford: to force the king to accept a government in which Parliament, representing the wealth of the country, had confidence. Their main obstacle was Charles's toughest adviser, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, who was executed as a traitor in May 1641. It was difficult to prove a man deep in the king's confidence a traitor, but Pym argued that "to endeavor the subversion of the laws of this kingdom was treason of the highest nature." Thus, by implication, even a king was capable of committing treason: here was the germ of the charge on which Charles was to be executed in 1649. There were great popular demonstrations in London calling for Strafford's execution, and Pym was accused of fomenting them. Pym forced Charles to accept an act forbidding the dissolution of Parliament without its consent. This was followed by acts abolishing the whole apparatus of personal government and finance. On paper Charles had accepted that he must rule through Parliament, but he had no real intention of accepting this, and he had to be coerced. The main issue became control of the armed forces. When rebellion broke out in Ireland (October 1641), all agreed that it must be crushed; but Parliament rightly feared a military coup if the king were given command of the army. The House of Commons said it would act in Ireland without the king unless Charles changed his ministers. This virtual declaration of revolution was reinforced by the Grand Remonstrance, listing the grievances of the kingdom as Pym's group saw them and demanding ministers trusted by Parliament and an Assembly of Divines nominated by Parliament to reform the church. This Remonstrance, carried by 159 votes to 148, was printed and circulated to rally support outside Parliament; its opponents henceforth formed a Royalist party. Pym was one of five members of Parliament whom Charles tried to arrest in January 1642. They took refuge in the City of London, from which they returned in triumph when the king quitted London. Before and during the Civil Wars, Pym's political philosophy was summed up in the phrase "I know how to add sovereign to [the king's] person, but not to his power." He believed that the king reigned but did not rule alone: power should be balanced between him and Parliament. "To have printed liberties," Pym once said, "and not to have liberties in truth and realities, is but to mock the kingdom." Pym never seems to have contemplated abolishing the monarchy, and he was certainly no democrat; but he used popular pressure to achieve his ends. When war started, he set about creating an army, the machinery to administer it, and the excise and assessment (later the land tax) to pay for it. His City connections helped him to raise loans. He created the network of committees at Westminster and in the counties that ran the country for the next 17 years. When military stalemate threatened, Pym called in Scottish assistance even at the price of concessions to Presbyterianism that went further than he wished. Ever pragmatic, when the House of Lords made difficulties, he told them that the Commons could run the country alone. Assessment Pym was a sonorously eloquent speaker, arguing each particular issue from first principles without ever being doctrinaire. His skill as a parliamentary tactician was unrivaled. He balanced between radicals--some of whom were republicans--and the peace party, which was so frightened of social upheaval that it would have accepted almost any terms from the king. Pym preserved the unity of Parliament for three years with no party organization, no discipline, no whips. This great achievement wore him out, and when he died, no one could replace him; Parliament's supporters split into wrangling groups. But by then Pym had laid the basis for victory and had sketched the shape of the England that was to survive the 17th century. He was Puritan opposed equally to Roman Catholicism and to Arminianism in the Anglican church, Pym early became prominent in the parliamentary opposition to Charles I. He organized the impeachment (1626) of George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham, and the passage (1628) of the Petition of Right. In the 11-year interval between Parliaments (1629ö40), he supported the colonizing ventures of the Providence Island Company in the West Indies. Pym was the unquestioned leader of the House of Commons in the events leading up to the English civil war. His long speech in the Short Parliament (1640) listing popular grievances resulted in the dissolution of that Parliament. Resuming the attack in the Long Parliament (1640), he initiated the prosecution of Thomas Wentworth, earl of Strafford, and of Archbishop Laud; urged the abolition of the courts of high commission and the Star Chamber; proposed the abolition of episcopacy; and played a major role in drafting the Grand Remonstrance (1641). Pym was one of the five members of Commons whom Charles tried to remove (1642) by military arrest. After the outbreak (1642) of the civil war, Pym organized various taxation reforms for Parliament and imposed the first English excise duties. His last important act was the arrangement of an alliance with the Scots, based on English acceptance of the Solemn League and Covenant (1643) Covenanters in Scottish history, where groups of Presbyterians bound by oath to sustain each other in the defense of their religion. The first formal Covenant was signed in 1557, signaling the beginning of the Protestant effort to seize power in Scotland. It was renewed thereafter at times of crisis, most notably in the 17th cent. The National Covenant of 1638 aimed to unite the Scots in opposition to the Episcopal innovations of King Charles I and William Laud, especially the adaptation for Scottish use of the English Book of Common Prayer. The Covenanters successfully resisted the king's armies in the Bishops Wars (1639ö40). In the English civil war they supported the parliamentary party only after the English Parliament had accepted (1643) the Solemn League and Covenant, which provided for the eventual establishment of a Presbyterian state church in England and Ireland as well as in Scotland. After the first civil war, however, the Independents in the English army secured control of affairs and prevented implementation of the Covenant. The Scots, therefore, concluded the agreement known as the "Engagement" with Charles I, by which the king agreed to establish Presbyterianism in England if restored to the throne. As a result, the Covenanters fought for Charles I in the second civil war (1648) and, after his execution (1649), they fought for Charles II, who also subscribed (1650) to the Solemn League and Covenant. They were subdued, however, by Oliver Cromwell's conquest of Scotland (1650ö51). After the Restoration (1660), Charles II resumed his father's effort to impose episcopacy in Scotland. The Covenanters were subjected to alternate attempts to conciliate them and to hunt them down. The result was a series of new compacts of resistance among them and new attempts to suppress them. A rebellion in 1679, which culminated in a rout at Bothwell Bridge, was met with harsh repression, as was the resistance of Richard Cameron and his followers, who issued the Sanquhar Declaration in 1680. The troubles ended with the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which restored the Presbyterian Church in Scotland. Bibliography C.E. Wade, John Pym (1912, reprinted 1971); S. Reed Brett, John Pym, 1583-1643: The Statesman of the Puritan Revolution (1940) J.H. Hexter, The Reign of King Pym (1941, reissued 1975). (Bio by M. Pymm)
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13048/john-pym: accessed
), memorial page for John Pym (c.20 May 1584–8 Dec 1643), Find a Grave Memorial ID 13048, citing St. Margaret's Churchyard, Westminster,
City of Westminster,
Greater London,
England;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
Add Photos for John Pym
Fulfill Photo Request for John Pym
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
This memorial already has a grave photo. Please indicate why you think it needs another.
There is no plot information for this memorial. Your photo request is more likely to be fulfilled if you contact the cemetery to get the plot information and include it with your request.
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.