Adam Baynes
British politician and parliamentarian officer (1622-1671)
Adam Baynes (bapt. 1622; died 1671) was a Parliamentarian army officer and MP for Leeds during the Commonwealth, and as such the first MP for the city. He was later also MP for Appleby. He enjoyed the patronage of John Lambert, who he served under during the First English Civil War, which helped his parliamentary career, but also later led to his downfall when the Royalists regained power in 1660.
Life and career
Adam Baynes was the eldest son of Robert Baynes and Joan Brown, of Knostrop Hall, east of Leeds, where his family had resided since at least the middle of the sixteenth century. He was baptised on 22 December 1622 in Leeds.
During the First English Civil War, Baynes joined the Parliamentarian army, serving under Ferdinando, Lord Fairfax. After initially serving as a captain in the infantry, he raised a cavalry troop, and subsequently fought at the battles of Adwalton Moor and Marston Moor. He subsequently served as an officer under John Lambert, who had command of the northern brigade from August 1647. Baynes was moved to London, where he acted as the brigade's financial agent, purchasing lands, soldier's debts and estates for his fellow officers.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4678687. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1622, 1671, 1660 and 1647.
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This entry incorporates text from “Adam Baynes” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.