At the 1681 election, he stood instead as an uncontested court candidate for Woodstock, where his brother had built up an interest through the Norreys estates and his office as Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire. No Parliamentary activity by Henry can be traced in the Third Exclusion Bill Parliament. Henry and Norreys were both admitted as freemen of Oxford on 14 June 1681; later that year, Henry served on the foreman of the grand jury of Oxfordshire during Norreys' successful proceedings against Stephen College on the court's behalf. He was commissioned a captain of Oxfordshire militia horse before 1681, and after the discovery of the Rye House Plot in 1683, he was employed in searching for arms secreted by the conspirators.