Editing John Popham (judge) (section)

==Career==
He served as an [[Member of parliament|MP]] for [[Lyme Regis (UK Parliament constituency)|Lyme Regis]] in 1558 and for [[Bristol (UK Parliament constituency)|Bristol]] in 1571 and 1572 and was a [[Justice of the Peace]] in Somerset. He served in the honourable position of Recorder of Bridgwater and of Bristol.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sir John Popham|url=http://www.nthpetherton.co.uk/popham.htm|publisher=North Petherton|access-date=24 August 2011}}</ref> He was promoted to serjeant-at-law in 1578 and appointed [[Solicitor General for England and Wales|Solicitor-General]] in 1579. In 1581 he was elected [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]] and later that year was appointed [[Attorney General for England and Wales|Attorney-General]]. In 1592 following the death of Sir [[Christopher Wray (English judge)|Christopher Wray]], he was appointed [[Chief Justice of the King's Bench|Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench]], which position he retained until his death.

Popham is credited with maintaining the stability of the British State, and for being one of the "real colonisers" of the British Empire; hosting two [[Wabanaki Confederacy|Wabanaki]] tribesmen kidnapped on the [[Maine]] coast in 1605, subsequently funding and orchestrating the aborted [[Popham Colony]] at the mouth of the [[Kennebec River]], Maine (1607–1608).

Popham became a very wealthy man, and amongst the many estates he owned was [[Publow]] in Somerset,<ref>Janes, Rowland (2003) Pensford, Publow and Woollard: A Topographical History. Biografix. {{ISBN|0-9545125-0-2}}.</ref> [[Littlecote House|Littlecote]] in [[Wiltshire]], and [[Hemyock]] Castle in [[Devon]]. In [[Peter Blundell]]'s will<ref>{{cite book|last1=Grigg|first1=E.|title=Donations of Peter Blundell: Founder and Other Benefactors to the Free Grammar School at Tiverton|date=1792|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z_0GAAAAQAAJ&q=donations+of+peter+blundell}}</ref> of 1599 Popham was asked to establish a [[Grammar school#Early grammar schools|free grammar school]] in the town of [[Tiverton, Devon|Tiverton]] in Devon, which resulted in his founding of [[Blundell's School]] which opened in 1604 and still exists to this day.