Sir Francis Clerke was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

 between 1661 and 1685.
Clerke was the son of Henry Clerke

Henry Clerke (MP)

Henry Clerke was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1626.Clerke was recorder of Rochester. He was elected Member of Parliament for Rochester in 1621 until 1622 under the reign of King James I. He was re-elected MP for Rochester in 1625 for both...

 of Rochester, who was a lawyer and MP for Rochester

Rochester (UK Parliament constituency)

Rochester was a parliamentary constituency in Kent. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England from 1295 to 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800, and finally to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801...

. Clerke inherited his father's property which included Restoration House

Restoration house

Restoration House in Rochester, Kent, England, is a fine example of an Elizabethan mansion. It is so named because King Charles II stayed there in 1660 on his way to reclaim England's throne, an event known as the Restoration....

 at Rochester. During the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

, the house had been sequestered and occupied by Colonel Gibbon, Cromwell’s commander in South East England. When King Charles II returned to London in 1660, Rochester was an important stopping place on the way, and Restoration House was fitted out to provide an overnight base for the King and his family.

Clerke was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Rochester

Rochester (UK Parliament constituency)

Rochester was a parliamentary constituency in Kent. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England from 1295 to 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800, and finally to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801...

 in 1661 for the Cavalier Parliament

Cavalier Parliament

The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter century reign of Charles II of England...

 until 1679. He was re-elected in 1681 and held the seat to 1685.

Clerke resided at Ulcombe-place, and died in 1685. His son Francis

Francis Clerke (c 1665 - by 1691)

Francis Clerke was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1690 to 1691.Clerke was the son of Sir Francis Clerke of Ulcombe and Rochester and his second wife Elizabeth Hastings, widow of John Hastings of Woodlands Dorset and daughter of John Cage of Brightwell Court...

was also MP for Rochester.