Henry Neville was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 author and satirist, best remembered for his tale of shipwreck and dystopia, The Isle of Pines

The Isle of Pines

The Isle of Pines is a book by Henry Neville published in 1668. An example of Utopian fiction, the book presents its story through an Epistolary frame: a "Letter to a friend in London, declaring the truth of his Voyage to the East Indies" written by a fictional Dutchman "Henry Cornelius Van...

published in 1668.

Life

Neville was born in 1620, the second son of Sir Henry Neville (died 1629) of Billingbear House

Billingbear House

Billingbear House was situated in the parish of Waltham St. Lawrence in Berkshire, England, about six miles from Windsor.Originally owned by the Bishop of Winchester, the land was given to Sir Henry Neville in 1549 by King Edward VI...

 at Waltham St Lawrence in Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, being younger brother of the Royalist commander, Richard Neville

Richard Neville (soldier)

Richard Neville served in the English Civil War as a Royalist. He came to prominence as commander at the First Battle of Newbury in 1643 when he commanded the Royalist troops.-Biography:...

. His grandfather, Sir Henry Neville, had served as Ambassador to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. He was educated at Merton

Merton College, Oxford

Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...

 and University

University College, Oxford

.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...

 Colleges at Oxford, but left without graduating. At an early age, he married Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of Richard Staverton of Heathley Hall in Warfield

Warfield

Warfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire and the Borough of Bracknell Forest.-Geography:Warfield is a mostly rural parish made up of a number of small settlements...

 which became the couple's country estate. Henry spent most of the period of the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

 travelling on the European continent. In April 1649 he was elected to Parliament to fill a vacancy as MP for Abingdon

Abingdon (UK Parliament constituency)

Abingdon was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , electing one Member of Parliament from 1558 until 1983...

. By the end of 1651 he was a member of the Council of State

English Council of State

The English Council of State, later also known as the Protector's Privy Council, was first appointed by the Rump Parliament on 14 February 1649 after the execution of King Charles I....

, but found himself so hostile to Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

 that he temporarily retired from active politics. However, he returned to Parliament in 1659, representing Reading

Reading (UK Parliament constituency)

Reading was a parliamentary borough, and later a borough constituency, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It comprised the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire....

, having become a member of Harrington

James Harrington

James Harrington was an English political theorist of classical republicanism, best known for his controversial work, The Commonwealth of Oceana .-Early life:...

's republican group.

After the Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

, he was arrested for treasonable practices in 1663 but was released without punishment, not being regarded as dangerous.

Works

In 1647 Neville published his satire, The Parliament of Ladies. Following his 1663 arrest Neville spent the rest of his life in writing and scholarship. In 1668 he published another satirical take on gender and politics, The Isle of Pines

The Isle of Pines

The Isle of Pines is a book by Henry Neville published in 1668. An example of Utopian fiction, the book presents its story through an Epistolary frame: a "Letter to a friend in London, declaring the truth of his Voyage to the East Indies" written by a fictional Dutchman "Henry Cornelius Van...

. In 1680 he published Plato Redivivus, a political dialogue arguing that the growing number of property owners in England necessitated a wider distribution of political power. He also published translations from Latin and Italian, including works of Machiavelli before his death in 1694.