"Chetham’s Life’s Dream A.D. 1640" by Ford Madox Brown, a mural at Manchester Town Hall. Events from the year 1640 in England
Events
5 January – Parliament fixes a quorum of 40 for its proceedings to be transacted.[ 1]
12 January – Thomas Wentworth becomes Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and Earl of Strafford .[ 2]
17 January – John Finch becomes Lord Keeper of the Great Seal .[ 2]
13 April – King Charles I summons the Short Parliament in an attempt to fund the Second Bishops' War against the Scottish Covenanters .[ 2]
17 April – John Pym makes a speech attacking the King in Parliament.[ 2]
4 May – Oliver St John calls on Parliament to outlaw ship money .[ 2]
5 May – the King dismisses the Short Parliament and prepares to attack Scotland .[ 2]
6 May – the Earl of Warwick , Lord Brooke , Lord Saye , John Pym, John Hampden , and Sir Walter Earle arrested.[ 2]
11–12 May – attack on Lambeth Palace by a London mob; Archbishop Laud has fled.[ 3] drummer , Benstead, is convicted of treason for encouraging the crowd, hanged, drawn and quartered , and has his head set above London Bridge ;[ 4] rack (in the Tower of London ), but does not reveal any other names.[ 5]
20 August – a Scottish Covenanter army invades Northumberland .[ 2]
28 August – Battle of Newburn : the Covenanter army defeats the English army.[ 2]
26 October – Treaty of Ripon signed between the King and the Covenanters.[ 2]
3 November – the Long Parliament is summoned;[ 2]
25 November – the Earl of Strafford imprisoned in the Tower of London .[ 2]
11 December – a crowd of 1,500 Londoners presents the Root and Branch petition to the Long Parliament, calling for the abolition of episcopacy in the Church of England .
18 December – Archbishop Laud impeached for treason.[ 2]
undated – Habeas Corpus Act ("An Act for the Regulating the Privie Councell and for taking away the Court commonly called the Star Chamber") passed, abolishing the Star Chamber .[ 6]
Births
11 January – Sir Robert Burdett, 3rd Baronet , politician (died 1716)
25 January – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire , soldier and statesman (died 1707)
6 February – William Campion , politician (died 1702)
13 February – Richard Edgcumbe , politician (died 1688)
29 February – Benjamin Keach , Particular Baptist preacher (died 1704)
30 March – John Trenchard , statesman (died 1695)
19 June – Thomas Widdrington , politician (died 1660)
29 June – Elizabeth Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield (died 1665)[ 7]
12 October – Sir Roger Twisden, 2nd Baronet (died 1703)
18 October – William Stanley , Member of Parliament (died 1670)
23 October – Elisabeth Pepys , née de St Michel, wife of Samuel (died 1669)
28 October – Streynsham Master , colonial administrator (died 1724)
5 November – John Verney, 1st Viscount Fermanagh , politician and merchant (died 1717)
17 November – Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland , née Villiers, a mistress of King Charles II (died 1709)
7 December (bapt.) – Fabian Stedman , pioneer of change ringing (died 1713)
13 December – Robert Plot , naturalist (died 1696)
14 December – Aphra Behn , née Amis, Johnson or Cooper?, author (died 1689)
Deaths
14 January – Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry , lawyer and judge (born 1578)
25 January – Robert Burton , scholar (born 1577)
17 March – Philip Massinger , dramatist (born 1583)
22 March – Thomas Carew , poet (born 1595)
28 April (bur.) – William Alabaster , poet and dramatist (born 1567)
3 June – Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk , politician (born 1584)
20 October – John Ball , Puritan clergyman (born 1585)
13 November – Laurence Chaderton , academic and churchman (born 1536)
8 December – Princess Anne , daughter of King Charles I (born 1637)
References
↑ Moran, Thomas Francis (1903). The Theory and Practice of the English Government . London: Longmans, Green. pp. 264– 265. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "British Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Protectorate 1638-60" . Archived from the original on 2012-04-19. Retrieved 2007-04-28 .↑ Gardiner, S. R. (1965) [1884]. History of England from the Accession of James I to the Outbreak of the Civil War . Vol. IX: 1603-1642 (repr. ed.). New York: AMS. OCLC 314362217 .↑ Walter, John (2024). " . The English Historical Review . Oxford University Press: 1– 29. doi :10.1093/ehr/ceae156 ↑ Crowther, David (2023). "372 Go On Vigorously" . The History of England . Retrieved 2026-07-26 . ↑ "Charles I, 1640: An Act for [ the Regulating the Privie Councell and for taking away the Court commonly called the Star Chamber] " . British History Online . Retrieved 2011-01-27 .↑ MacLeod, Catharine (2001). Painted Ladies: women at the court of Charles II . London: National Portrait Gallery. ISBN 9781855143210 .
