Giles Mompesson

Who was Giles Mompesson?

Giles Mompesson was an English office holder and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1614 and 1621 when he was sentenced for corruption. He was officially a "notorious criminal" whose career was one based on speculation and graft. His name came to be regarded as a synonym for graft and official corruption because he used nepotism to gain positions for licensing businesses by which he pocketed the fees. In the reaction against Charles I, Mompesson's name was invoked as a symbol of all that was wrong with aristocracy. Sir Giles Overreach, the anti-hero of Philip Massinger's 1625 play A New Way to Pay Old Debts, is based on Mompesson.