Henry Bedingfield

Henry Bedingfield (1586-1657), of Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk, was an English Member of Parliament.

He was the eldest son of Thomas Bedingfield of Oxburgh, who he succeeded in 1590. He was knighted some time after 1604.

He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Norfolk in 1614. He was the Sheriff of Norfolk 1620–1621.

He was accused, with some justification, of being a Catholic recusant and led a Royalist contingent of East Anglian Catholics during the Civil War. He escaped to Holland shortly after Henrietta Maria left England in early 1642. Returning from exile under pressure in 1646 he was committed to the Tower of London in 1647, being released under a general pardon in 1649. His Norfolk estates, excluding Oxburgh, were confiscated and sold.

He married twice and left several sons and daughters. His eldest son, Thomas, also fought as a Royalist and after being captured at Lincoln served two years in gaol before being exiled, and his son-in-law, Colonel Robert Apreece, was killed after the Parliamentarians captured Lincoln in 1643. Two other sons, Henry and William, both fought as royalists and escaped overseas and another son, Edmund, was a canon at Lierre in Belgium. After the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, Henry, who had inherited Oxburgh Hall, was created a baronet to recompense him for the family's losses during the Civil war.