Alexander St John

St John was a son of Oliver St John, 3rd Baron St John of Bletso and his wife Dorothy Reid, daughter of Sir John Rede or Reid, of Odington, Gloucestershire.^[1] He was admitted fellow commoner at Queens' College, Cambridge on 9 November 1601.^[2] He was knighted on 5 August 1608 at Bletsoe together with his brother Anthony.^[3] Apart from Anthony, four other brothers, Oliver, Rowland, Beauchamp and Henry were to become MPs.^[4]

In 1614 St John was elected Member of Parliament for Bedford and was re-elected in 1621 and 1624. In 1626 and 1628 he was elected MP for Barnstaple. He sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.^[5]

St John married Margaret Draynor, the widow of Thomas Draynor and daughter of John Trye, of Hardwick, Gloucestershire. He survived her death in 1656 and caused a white marble monument, adorned with pilasters, entablature, pediment, and two Cupids, to be erected in her memory in the church of St Leonards, Shoreditch.^[6] He left no children.

His eldest brother Oliver inherited the Barony and became Earl of Bolingbroke.