Nicholas Delves (1618-1690)

Nicholas Delves
Born	1618
Died	1690

Delves originated from a Sussex yeoman family. Apprenticed to a London Merchant Taylor in 1635, he became a tradesman in the capital yet kept ties with his native county, especially the Hastings area where his father farmed. His wife also came from a Sussex family, and in 1659 he purchased the manor of Hoseland, three miles north of Hastings, where his brother Thomas served as returning officer for both successful elections. He held no office during the Interregnum and likely held Anglican and royalist views. In the Convention he was a quiet Member, appointed to seven committees, including those drafting a clause in the book of rates for foreign ships and promoting English woollen manufactures and shipping. His sole committee of political weight concerned the attainder of Oliver Cromwell..

Delves probably did not stand in 1661. That year he was fined for alderman, and though elected to the common council, he appears to have lived in a large house in Camberwell, perhaps as tenant of the Muschamp estate that had passed to his kinsman Edward Eversfield through marriage. He gained a grant of lands in Devon to settle a £350 loan made to a distressed loyalist, Sir Henry Norton, during the Interregnum, and in 1664 he sold an investment of £600 in the East India Company; yet his wealth was clearly not among the great mercantile fortunes of the time. He served on the Camberwell vestry and was buried in the parish church on 3 Nov. 1690, the only member of the family to sit in Parliament.