Sir John Verney (1640-1717), 2nd Baronet between 1696 and 1703, was an English peer, merchant and Tory politician. Aged eight, during the English Civil War, he accompanied his father into his French exile, & was educated at Blois for the following five years. After the family's return to England, he joined James Fleetwood's school at Barn Elms and in 1655 went to another school in Kensington. Thereafter Verney worked for a levant merchant, making expeditions to Mesopotamia and Cyprus. In 1696, he succeeded his father as baronet. Verney was several years assistant to the Royal African Company and served as governor of Bethlem Royal Hospital. He contested Buckingham in the elections of 1696, 1698 and 1701; each time unsuccessfully. In 1703, Verney was created Viscount of the County of Fermanagh along with the subsidiary title Baron Verney of Belturbet, in the County of Cavan.& as both titles were in the Peerage of Ireland he was finally able to sit in the House of Commons in 1710, sitting for Buckinghamshire until 1715 the Amersham until his death.