With his father-in-law, Sampson Lennard, an antiquary of some eminence, he was nominated a member of the Academy of Literature projected with the approval of the court in 1617, but subsequently abandoned.
He was elected MP for Maidstone again in 1626 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.
He died in 1646 as a new writ for Maidstone was issued, to fill a vacancy stated to be caused by Sir Francis's death, but in Sir Roger Twysden's diary he is mentioned in 1649 as urging the release of his eldest son Robert, imprisoned by the Kentish committee.
Cleveland: General Court of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, 1975, Thomas Barnham (b.1625) a son of Francis, arrived in Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1655.
However, a detailed study performed in 2014 by genealogists on the staff of the College of Arms in London, England concluded that the connection between Thomas and Sir Francis is contrary to the known facts.