Saint John, Oliver, 1st Earl of Bolingbroke (1584 -1646)

Oliver St John, 4th Baron St John of Bletsho, was the eldest son of Oliver, 3rd Baron, and Dorothy, daughter and heir of Sir John Rede of Odington in Gloucestershire. He was Member of Parliament for Bedfordshire in 1601, and again in 1604. He was made a Knight of the Bath at the investiture of Henry to Prince of Wales in June 1610. In September 1618 he succeeded his father as Baron St John of Bletsho, and was created Earl of Bolingbroke 28 December 1624. He remained with the Long Parliament in 1642, when Charles I retired to York, took the Covenant and was appointed a lay member of the Westminster Assembly in 1643. He married, in April 1602, Elizabeth, daughter of William Paulet. His eldest son, Oliver, died during his father's lifetime, and he was therefore succeeded by his grandson Oliver, who in turn was succeeded by his younger brother, Paulet. The 3rd Earl did not marry, and the Earldom became extinct at his death in 1711. The Barony of St John of Bletso passed to the descendants the 1st Earl's brother, Sir Rowland St John.