Sir John Leigh 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...

 landowner, soldier and 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...

 between 1597 and 1611.

Leigh was the son of John Leigh of Coldrey, Hampshire and his wife Margaret or Margery Saunders, daughter of Thomas Saunders of Uxbridge, Middlesex. His father died on 20 January 1576 when he was a year old and he succeeded to the manors of Coldrey, Chauntsinger near Alton, Medstead, Alresford and Bishops Sutton in Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

. He was J.P.

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 for Hampshire from 1592. He served in the army at Cadiz, where he was knighted by the Earl of Essex in 1596. In 1597, he 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 Grampound

Grampound (UK Parliament constituency)

Grampound in Cornwall, was a borough constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1821. It was represented by two Members of Parliament.-History:Grampound's...

. He went with the Earl of Essex to Ireland in April 1599 as captain of 50 horse, but returned to England in the autumn. He was not involved in the 1601 rebellion. Instead in 1601 he was elected MP for Newport

Newport (Cornwall) (UK Parliament constituency)

Newport was a rotten borough situated in Cornwall. It is now within the town of Launceston, which was itself also a parliamentary borough at the same period...

 in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

. In 1604 he was elected MP for Helston

Helston (UK Parliament constituency)

Helston, sometimes known as Helleston, was a parliamentary borough centred on the small town of Helston in Cornwall.Using the bloc vote system of election, it returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England until 1707, then to House of Commons of Great Britain until 1800, and...

.

Leigh died of "the stone" at the age 36 "after a lingering sickness".

Leigh married Elizabeth West, daughter of Sir Thomas West, of Testwood, Hampshire and had a son Thomas.