Luke Garnons

Who is Luke Garnons?

Luke Garnons was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1584 and 1601.

Garnons was a draper of Gloucester and in 1566, he became an alderman of the City of Gloucester. As part of his civic interests in Gloucester he was deeply involved in maritime trade from the city. He was twice mayor and was described as a 'sage and prudent ruler'.

Garnons was the Member of Parliament for Gloucester from 1584 to 1585.

In the years 1586–7 when Garnons was mayor of Gloucester there was a dispute over the election of a new recorder William Oldsworth and Garnons was instrumental in blocking the appointment for a while. In 1587 Garnons purchased a freehold estate at Coln St Dennis from the lord of the manor.

There was continuous political factionalism in Gloucester as the corporation was split between an establishment group which was sympathetic to puritan ideas, and a more populist faction, led by Garnons and John Jones, who had strong links with the cathedral and tried to encourage the freeman vote. In the 1588 parliamentary election Garnons and Thomas Atkyns were elected as the two more populist candidates. They represented the city until 1589. In 1597, Garnons and Oldsworth were chosen as MPs for Gloucester in 1597 and it was alleged that the bench had deliberately excluded from the poll many freemen who supported Atkyns.