Sir John Wolstenholme, 1st Baronet (died 1670) 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...

 in 1640. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War

English Civil War

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

.

Wolstenholme was the son of Sir John Wolstenholme and his wife Catherine Fanshaw. He became a farmer of customs with his father and was knighted by King Charles I.

In April 1640, Wolstenholme 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 Queenborough

Queenborough (UK Parliament constituency)

Queenborough was a rotten borough situated on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.From 1572 until it was abolished by the great reform act of 1832, it returned two Members of Parliament. The franchise was vested in the freemen of the town, of whom there were more than 300. Its electorate was therefore one...

 in the Short Parliament

Short Parliament

The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....

. He supported the king in the Civil War selling property and incurring debts to provide finance for the Royalist cause. As a result he was then fined by parliament. He and his father's partners in the customs farming business were required to pay £150,000 which lead to the sale of his estates. His son Henry and brother in law Sir Thomas Dallison were both killed in the Civil War.

After the Restoration, he became a farmer of customs again and was given a patent for collecting taxes on outbound goods in the Port of London

Port of London

The Port of London lies along the banks of the River Thames from London, England to the North Sea. Once the largest port in the world, it is currently the United Kingdom's second largest port, after Grimsby & Immingham...

. He was created Baronet, of London, by King Charles II in 1664.

Wolstenholme died in 1670 and was buried on 15 July at Stanmore

Stanmore

Stanmore is a suburban area of the London Borough of Harrow, in northwest London. It is situated northwest of Charing Cross. The area is home to Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, high.-Toponymy:...

in the church which had been built by his father.

Wolstenholme married Ann Dallison of Laughton, Lincolnshire. His son Thomas succeeded to the baronetcy.