Nation (1649) attracted the attention of William Petty. He advocated widespread nationalisation, as did Gerrard Winstanley, the Digger; but differed in defending private property and existing economic arrangements. It has been argued that "utopian" is misleading for Chamberlen: his Fifth Monarchist tenets are more rightly associated with greeting the advent of a new social order. Sir James Harington, 3rd Baronet acted as spokesman in the Rump Parliament for Chamberlen, who produced a summary Plus Ultra for the Parliament of The Poore Man's Advocate as lobbying material. For his social schemes, of a utopian flavour, Samuel Hartlib, Pieter Corneliszoon Plockhoy and John Jubbes have been suggested as possible influences. He opposed the death penalty for theft, as did contemporaries Samuel Chidley, William Cole, Hugh Peter, and William Tomlinson. Christopher Hill commented on this "medical radical" and Margaret James's assertion, that Chamberlen, Balthazar Gerbier and Hartlib were the only writers of the time seriously concerned with "the lot of the poor", adding Plockoy to the list. Legacy Chamberlen in 1638 acquired Woodham Mortimer Hall, a 17th-century gabled house in Essex, which became the family home. A blue plaque fixed to the hall notes them as pioneering obstetricians. The hall passed out of the Chamberlen family in 1715 when the family home was sold. Dr Peter Chamberlen's own forceps were found in 1813 under a trap door in the loft of the hall. They were given to the Medical and Chirurgical Society which passed them to the Royal Society of Medicine in 1818. Family Chamberlen married, first, Jane Myddelton, eldest daughter of Sir Hugh Myddelton, 1st Baronet. His second wife was Ann Harrison. He had in all 14 sons and four daughters. Hugh Chamberlen the elder (1634 – after 1720), the eldest son of the first marriage, also practiced obstetrics using the forceps. Another son, Paul (1635–1717), was a quack doctor well-regarded in his time, now remembered for his "anodyne necklace" which, he claimed, could promote healthy pregnancy and easier labour, and ward off the dangers of teething when worn by the child. Hovenden Walker was the son of Peter Chamberlen's daughter Elizabeth. See also Sabbath in Christianity Seventh Day Baptists Notes 1601 births 1683 deaths 17th-century English medical doctors