James Thurbarne was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

 at various times between 1656 and 1679.

Thurbarne was the second son of James Thurbarne lawyer of New Romney, Kent and his wife Mary Estcourt, daughter of Giles Estcourt of Salisbury, Wiltshire. He was a lawyer and became Jurat for Sandwich by 1642. He also became town clerk in 1642.

In 1656, Thurbarne was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Sandwich

Sandwich (UK Parliament constituency)

Sandwich was a parliamentary constituency in Kent, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1366 until 1885, when it was disfranchised for corruption.-History:...

 in the Second Protectorate Parliament

Second Protectorate Parliament

The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...

 from which he was secluded. He became warden of St. Thomas’s hospital, Sandwich in 1658. In 1659 he was re-elected MP for Samdwich in the Third Protectorate Parliament

Third Protectorate Parliament

The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons...

. He was a member of the county committee for Kent in 1659. In 1660 he was re-elected MP for Sandwich for the Convention Parliament. In August 1660 he became commissioner for assessment for Kent and for Sandwich. King Charles ordered his dismissal as jurat on 27 November 1660, but he was immediately re-elected by the corporation. He was re-elected MP for Sandwich in 1661 for the Cavalier Parliament

Cavalier Parliament

The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter century reign of Charles II of England...

. In 1662 he was ejected as jurat and town clerk by the commissioners for corporations. He was mayor of Sandwich in 1665 and was reinstated as town clerk and jurat in 1667. In 1679 he stood down from his seat at Sandwich in favour of his son John.

Thurbarne died at the age of 80 and was buried at S. Peter’s, Sandwich on 23 May 1688.

Thurbarne married firstly Ellen Jacob, widow of John Jacob of Sandwich on 12 May 1635 and had two sons and a daughter. He married secondly Bennet Forster a widow on 18 November 1658.