Hidden Henley

Does this building have stories to tell?

This fine old building in Hart Street, which has fairly recently had a blue plaque added, was the birthplace in 1591 of the Speaker of the Long Parliament, and is now private residencies and a property agent. It seems that William Lenthall and his family owned several properties in Henley, London, Berkshire and elsewhere in Oxfordshire, and would have stayed here in our town at various times in his life, although he actually represented Woodstock. He was baptised in St Marys Church which is directly opposite. The building is older on the inside than it looks on the outside and could surely tell many a tale or two, being steeped in history and particularly that of the turbulent Civil War period. If you walk by on the opposite side of the road and glance across, it’s worth speculating which famous people may have crossed the thresholds here; perhaps King Charles I or Oliver Cromwell?

Lenthall was a successful and wealthy barrister whose legal knowledge certainly seemed to help him in his position of Speaker, and he has been remembered for his words when in a particularly tight spot and facing King Charles I backed by what may have been several hundred swordsman on 4^th January 1642. The King believed thathe had unquestionable God-given supreme power and was intending to arrest his five main opponents in Parliament on the fatal charge of treason, only to find that they had already flown the nest. When cornered by the King to disclose their whereabouts, our Henley man dropped to his knees and shrewdly said the famous lines:

“May it please Your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak in this place, but only as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here.”

A different response from Lenthall would have changed the course of history. The UK Parliament website states that “No monarch has entered the House of Commons since then”. But ever since this day those events are commemorated at the state opening of Parliament.