Representative Edward Rogers

Edward Rogers was an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament during the mid-sixteenth century, representing the borough of Kingston upon Hull in the Parliament of 1545. Little is recorded about his early life, family background, or education, which was common for many lesser-known Tudor-era parliamentarians. It is likely, given the nature of parliamentary representation at the time, that he was a figure of some local standing in Kingston upon Hull or had connections to regional interests that enabled his selection as a burgess for the town.

Rogers’s known public career centers on his service in the Parliament summoned by King Henry VIII in 1545, one of the last parliaments of that reign. As Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull, he would have participated in legislative sessions held in the closing years of Henry’s rule, a period marked by ongoing military campaigns against France and Scotland, heavy royal expenditure, and continued religious and administrative changes following the English Reformation. Although specific records of his speeches or committee work have not survived, his presence in that Parliament placed him among those responsible for granting taxation and considering statutes that supported the crown’s policies in war finance, ecclesiastical matters, and governance.

The historical record does not clearly distinguish this Edward Rogers from other contemporaries of the same name, including Sir Edward Rogers (c. 1498–1568), who served as Comptroller and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household to Queen Elizabeth I. However, the Edward Rogers associated with Kingston upon Hull in 1545 is identified specifically as the Member of Parliament for that borough and is treated separately in surviving lists of parliamentary representation. No further details are reliably documented regarding his later life, subsequent offices, or the date and circumstances of his death, and his career is known today primarily through his brief but documented role in the House of Commons for Kingston upon Hull in 1545.