Ralph Sneyd was an English landowner 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...

  from 1640 to 1642. He was a colonel in the Royalist army in the English Civil War

English Civil War

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

 and was killed in action on the Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

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Sneyd was the son of Ralph Sneyd of Keele Hall

Keele Hall

Keele Hall is a 19th century mansion house at Keele, Staffordshire, England, now standing on the campus of Keele University and serving as the university conference centre. It is a Grade II* listed building.-History:...

 and Bradwell and his first wife, Mary Chetwynd, daughter of Thomas Chetwynd, of Ingestrie. Sneyd inherited the estates of Keele

Keele

Keele is a village and civil parish in northern Staffordshire, England. It is approximately three miles west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and is close to the village of Silverdale...

 and Bradwell

Bradwell, Staffordshire

Bradwell is a suburb and council ward in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire. According to the 2001 Census, it had a population of 6,365....

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In April 1640, Sneyd 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,...

 for Stafford

Stafford (UK Parliament constituency)

Stafford is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. The sitting MP is the Conservative Jeremy Lefroy....

 in the Short Parliament

Short Parliament

The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....

. He was re-elected MP for Stafford in November 1640 for the Long Parliament

Long Parliament

The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...

and sat until he was disabled in 1642. Sneyd was a colonel in the King's army. Keele Hall was badly damaged in the Civil War and Sneyd suffered losses of up to £20,000 because of his loyalty to the king. He was killed by the last shot fired in defence of the Countess of Derby on the Isle of Man.

Sneyd married Jane Downes, daughter of Roger Downes of Wordley.