Sir George More (28 November 1553 – 16 October 1632)[1] was an English courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1584 and 1625.
In 1584, More was elected Member of Parliament for Guildford and was re-elected MP for Guildford in 1586 and 1589.[5] He was provost marshal for Surrey in 1589.[4] In 1593, he was MP for Guildford again. He was High Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex in 1596.[4] In 1597, he was elected MP for Surrey.[5] He was knighted in February 1598.[6] From 23 June 1601 to 1613, he was Chamberlain of the Receipt in the Exchequer.[4] He was re-elected MP for Surrey in 1601. He was re-elected MP for Guildford in 1604 and for Surrey in 1614.[5] From 1615 to 1617, he was Lieutenant of the Tower of London. He was elected MP for Surrey again in 1621. In 1624 he was elected MP for Guildford and was elected MP for Surrey again in 1625.[5]
Among his other roles, More was treasurer and receiver general to James I's son, Henry, Prince of Wales, and Chancellor of the Order of the Garter. He was subsidy and loan commissioner, muster commissioner, and commissioner for recusants and seminaries for Surrey. He was a verderer of Windsor Forest and constable of Farnham Castle.[4]
More married first Anne Poynings (died 19 November 1590), (daughter of Sir Adrian Poynings of Burnegate, Dorset and Mary West), by whom he had four sons and five daughters:[8]
Anne More, who married the poet John Donne, much against the wishes of her father, who had Donne imprisoned as a result, though they were later reconciled.
He married secondly Constance Michell, widow of Richard Knight, esquire, and daughter and co-heir of John Michell the younger of Stammerham (died 1555), near Horsham, West Sussex, by whom he had no issue.[4][10]
^J.C.H./M.A.P., 'More, George (1553-1632), of Loseley, Surr.', in P.W. Hasler (ed.), The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, (from Boydell and Brewer, 1981), History of Parliament online.
^A. Davidson and R. Sgroi, 'More, Sir George (1553-1632), of Loseley, nr. Guildford, Surr. and Blackfriars, London', in A. Thrush and J.P. Ferris (eds), The History of Parliament: The House of Commons, 1603-1629 (from Cambridge University Press, 2010), History of Parliament online.
^J.C. Jeaffreson (ed.), 'The Manuscripts of William More Molyneux, Esquire, of Loseley Park', Seventh Report of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Part I (HMSO, London 1879), Appendix, pp. 596-681, at p. 668 (Internet Archive).
^'Crophill, no. 17: George More', in D. Richardson, ed. K.G. Everingham, Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition, 4 vols (Salt Lake City, 2011), II, pp. 1-7, at pp. 5-6 (Google).
^A.J.Kempe (ed.), The Loseley Manuscripts (John Murray, London 1836), pp. 368-70 (Google).
^R.J.W. Swales and A.K.D. Hawkyard, 'Michell, John II (d.1555), of Stammerham, Suss.', in S.T. Bindoff (ed.), The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558 (from Boydell and Brewer 1982), History of Parliament Online.