Roger Downes
Roger Downes (died 1638) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1601 and from 1621 to 1622.
Downes was the son Roger Downes of Shrigley, Cheshire. He was a student of Staple Inn and then of Gray's Inn in 1589 and was called to the bar in 1599. In 1601, he was elected Member of Parliament for Wigan. At about this time, he acquired Wardley Hall, a moated manor house with a private chapel and twenty bedrooms. He was summer reader for Grey's Inn in 1615. In 1621 he was elected MP for Wigan again. He was dean of the chapel of Gray's Inn in 1624. In 1625 he was vice-chamberlain of Cheshire. He was treasurer of Gray's Inn in 1628.[1]
Downes died in 1628 and was buried at Wigan on 6 July.[1]
Downes married firstly at Wigan on 23 April 1601 Elizabeth Gerard daughter of Miles Gerard of Ince, She had a son but died in 1602. He married secondly Anne Calvert, daughter of John Calvert of Cockeram. She had two sons and one daughter. She was a Catholic, and their second son Francis, who was also MP for Wigan, later became one.[1]