George Speke (politician, died 1689)

[1] A Royalist during the English Civil War, after the Restoration of Charles II he became an early Whig supporter in Parliament.

[2] Speke gave financial support to Prince Rupert at Bridgwater; and when the town surrendered to Thomas Fairfax in July 1645 he was taken as a hostage and his goods sequestrated.

He pleaded compulsion as his motive for joining the king's party, and poverty as a reason for the reduction of his fine.

Parting company with old allies (the Courtenays, the Seymours, and the Portmans) he now threw himself into the politics of the country party, joined the Green Ribbon Club, and voted for the Exclusion Bill of 1680.

[2] A heavy fine was imposed on Speke for having, it was alleged, created a riot in rescuing his son-in-law John Trenchard from the custody of a messenger in June 1685.

[1] The fourth son, Charles, was executed after Monmouth's Rebellion; the rest of the family were pardoned after a payment of £5,000.