Edward Popham

Edward Popham (1610-1651) was a General-at-Sea during the English Civil War.

A naval officer before the outbreak of the civil wars, Popham supported the Parliament of England and became Member of Parliament for Minehead in Somerset on the death of his father. With his brother Colonel Alexander Popham he was active in Dorset and Somerset, relieving Dorchester in May 1643 when it was threatened by Prince Maurice.

In February 1649, Popham was appointed a Commissioner of the Navy along with Robert Blake and Richard Deane. He was regarded as the senior commissioner because of his previous naval experience and military rank. During 1649, Popham commanded in the Downs and North Sea against privateers commissioned by the Prince of Wales. In April 1650, he sailed with a fleet to Portugal to reinforce Blake, who was keeping Prince Rupert blockaded in the River Tagus. Popham carried orders from the Council of State declaring that if the Portuguese continued to obstruct the Commonwealth of England by supporting Rupert, their trade could be attacked. Popham returned to his station in the Downs and North Sea in the autumn of 1650.

Edward married Anne Carre, daughter of William Carre of Ferniehirst, Groom of the Bedchamber to King James VI of Scotland (James I of England) and half brother to Robert Carre, favourite of King James I. His brother Alexander married Anne's sister Letitia Carre. Both were the sons of Francis Popham and Ann Dudley, and grandsons of Sir John Popham.

Edward's son Alexander Popham was born deaf and dumb and was taught to speak by two scientists, John Wallis and William Holder. cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7511446.stm|title=Find could end 350-year science dispute |last=Elliott |first=Jane
date=2008-7-26|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2008-07-27] He is considered to be one of the earliest cases of a born deaf person to learn to talk. Alexander's notebook dated 1662 has recently been discovered at Littlecote House and features diagrams of how Alexander should control his throat and mouth to make certain sounds, and has been authenticated by a linguistics researcher at Oxford University as being in the hand of John Wallis, the mathematician credited with cracking the code used by Charles I during the English Civil War, allowing the Parliamentarians to read his letters to the Queen.

Edward died of fever at Dover in August 1651.

References

*"This article incorporates text under a Creative Commons License by David Plant from the [http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/biog/index_p.htm British Civil Wars and Commonwealth website] "