Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey
Encyclopedia
Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey PC
(10 July 1614 – 6 April 1686) was an Anglo-Irish
royalist statesman. After short periods as President of the Council of State
and Treasurer of the Navy
, he served as Lord Privy Seal
between 1673 and 1682 for Charles II
. He succeeded his father as 2nd Viscount Valentia in 1660, and he was created Earl of Anglesey in 1661.
to Francis Annesley, 1st Viscount Valentia
and Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Philipps, Bt
, of Picton Castle
. He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford
, from which he graduated in 1634 as a Bachelor of Arts
; that year, he was admitted into Lincoln's Inn
. Having made the grand tour he returned to Ireland; and being employed by Parliament on a mission to the Duke of Ormonde
, now reduced to the last extremities, he succeeded in concluding a treaty with him on 19 June 1647, thus securing the country from complete subjection to the rebels. In April 1647 he was returned for Radnorshire
to the House of Commons
.
He supported the parliamentarians against the republican or army party, and appears to have been one of the members excluded in 1648. He sat in Richard Cromwell
's parliament for Member of Parliament
for Dublin City
, and endeavoured to take his seat in the restored Rump Parliament
of 1659. He was made President of the Council of State
in February 1660, and in the Convention Parliament sat for Carmarthen
. The anarchy of the last months of the Commonwealth
converted him to royalism, and he showed great activity in bringing about the English Restoration. He used his influence in moderating measures of revenge and violence, and while sitting in judgement on the regicides was on the side of leniency. He was sworn of the Privy Council
on 1 June and in November he succeeded his father as Viscount Valentia
in the Irish peerage
. On 20 April 1661 he was created Baron Annesley, of Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire
and Earl of Anglesey
in the Peerage of England
.
Anglesey supported the king's administration in parliament, but opposed strongly the unjust measure which, on the abolition of the court of wards, placed the extra burden of taxation thus rendered necessary on the excise. His services in the administration of Ireland were especially valuable. He filled the office of vice-treasurer from 1660 till 1667, served on the committee for carrying out the declaration for the settlement of Ireland and on the committee for Irish affairs, while later, in 1671 and 1672, he was a leading member of various commissions appointed to investigate the working of the Acts of Settlement. In February 1661 he had obtained a captain
cy of horse, and in 1667 he exchanged his post of Vice-Treasurer of Ireland for that of Treasurer of the Navy
.
, and he opposed again the bill brought in with that object in January 1667. This same year his naval accounts were subjected to an examination in consequence of his indignant refusal to take part in the attack upon Ormonde; and he was suspended from his office in 1668, no charge, however, against him being substantiated. He took a prominent part in the dispute in 1671 between the two Houses concerning the right of the Lords to amend money bills, and wrote a learned pamphlet on the question entitled The Privileges of the House of Lords and Commons (1702), in which the right of the Lords was asserted. In April 1673 he was appointed Lord Privy Seal
, and was disappointed at not obtaining the Great Seal
the same year on the removal of Lord Shaftesbury
.
In the bitter religious controversies of the time Anglesey showed great moderation and toleration. In 1674 he is mentioned as endeavouring to prevent the justices putting into force the laws against the Roman Catholics and Nonconformists. In the panic of the "Popish Plot" in 1678 he exhibited a saner judgment than most of his contemporaries and a conspicuous courage. On the 6th of December he protested with three other peers against the measure sent up from the Commons enforcing the disarming of all convicted recusants and taking bail from them to keep the peace; he was the only peer to dissent from the motion declaring the existence of an Irish plot; and though believing in the guilt and voting for the death of Lord Stafford
, he interceded, according to his own account, with the king for him as well as for Richard Langhorne and Oliver Plunkett
, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.
His independent attitude drew upon him an attack by Dangerfield
, and in the Commons by the Attorney General
, Sir William Jones
, who accused him of endeavouring to stifle the evidence against the Romanists. In March 1679 he protested against the second reading of the bill for disabling the Earl of Danby
.
In 1681 Anglesey wrote A Letter from a Person of Honour in the Country, as a rejoinder to the Earl of Castlehaven
, who had published memoirs on the Irish rebellion defending the action of the Irish and the Roman Catholics. In so doing Anglesey was held by Ormonde to have censured his conduct and that of Charles I
in concluding the "Cessation", and the duke brought the matter before the council. In 1682 he wrote The Account of Arthur, Earl of Anglesey ... of the true state of Your Majesty's Government and Kingdom, which was addressed to the king in a tone of censure and remonstrance, but appears not to have been printed till 1694. In consequence he was dismissed on 9 August 1682 from the office of Lord Privy Seal.
In 1683 Anglesey appeared at the Old Bailey as a witness in defence of Lord Russell
, and in June 1685 he protested alone against the revision of Lord Stafford
's attainder. He divided his time between his estate at Blechingdon in Oxfordshire
, and his house on Drury Lane
in London, where he died in 1686 from quinsy
, closing a career marked by great ability, statesmanship and business capacity, and by conspicuous courage and independence of judgement. He amassed a large fortune in Ireland, in which country he had been allotted lands by Cromwell. At his death, his library of books was believed to be the largest English library not in ecclesiastical hands. He was buried at Farnborough, Hampshire
.
The unfavourable character drawn of him by Burnet
is certainly unjust and not supported by any evidence. Pepys
, a far more trustworthy judge, speaks of him invariably in terms of respect and approval as a "grave, serious man," and commends his appointment as treasurer of the navy as that of "a very notable man and understanding and will do things regular and understand them himself." He was a learned and cultivated man and collected a celebrated library, which was dispersed at his death. Besides the pamphlets already mentioned, he wrote:—A True Account of the Whole Proceedings betwixt ... the Duke of Ormond and ... the Earl of Anglesey (1682); A Letter of Remarks upon Jovian (1683); other works ascribed to him being The King's Right of Indulgence in Matters Spiritual ... asserted (1688); Truth Unveiled, to which is added a short Treatise on ... Transubstantiation (1676); The Obligation resulting from the Oath of Supremacy (1688); and England's Confusion (1659). Memoirs of Lord Anglesey were published by Sir P. Pett in 1693, but contain little biographical information and were repudiated as a mere imposture by Sir John Thompson (Lord Haversham), his son-in-law, in his preface to Lord Anglesey's State of the Government in 1694. The author however of the preface to The Rights of the Lords asserted (1702), while blaming their publication as "scattered and unfinished papers," admits their genuineness.
of Oxey, Hertfordshire
, a baron of the Exchequer. They had seven sons and six daughters, including:
James' sons succeeded as the 3rd
, 4th and 5th
earls. Richard's second son, Richard
(died 1761), succeeded his cousin as the 6th earl, and left a son Arthur
(1744–1816), whose legitimacy was doubted and his father's English titles were declared extinct. He was summoned to the Irish House of Peers as Viscount Valentia, but was denied his writ to the parliament of Great Britain by a majority of one vote. He was created Earl of Mountnorris in 1793 in the Peerage of Ireland. All the male descendants of the 1st Earl of Anglesey became extinct in the person of George, 2nd Earl of Mountnorris
, in 1844, when the titles of Viscount Valentia and Baron Mountnorris passed to his cousin Arthur (1785–1863), who thus became 10th Viscount Valentia, being descended from the 1st Viscount Valentia the father of the 1st Earl of Anglesey in the Annesley family. The 1st viscount was also the ancestor of the Earls Annesley
in the Irish peerage.
Privy Council of England
The Privy Council of England, also known as His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England...
(10 July 1614 – 6 April 1686) was an Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
royalist statesman. After short periods as President of the Council of State
English Council of State
The English Council of State, later also known as the Protector's Privy Council, was first appointed by the Rump Parliament on 14 February 1649 after the execution of King Charles I....
and Treasurer of the Navy
Treasurer of the Navy
The Treasurer of the Navy was an office in the British government between the mid-16th and early 19th century. The office-holder was responsible for the financial maintenance of the Royal Navy. The office was a political appointment, and frequently was held by up-and-coming young politicians who...
, he served as Lord Privy Seal
Lord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the traditional sinecure offices of state...
between 1673 and 1682 for Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
. He succeeded his father as 2nd Viscount Valentia in 1660, and he was created Earl of Anglesey in 1661.
Early life
Annesley was born in Dublin, IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
to Francis Annesley, 1st Viscount Valentia
Francis Annesley, 1st Viscount Valentia
Francis Annesley, 1st Viscount Valentia PC was an English statesman during the colonisation of Ireland in the seventeenth century. He was a Member of Parliament for both the English and Irish houses, and was elevated to the Irish peerage as Baron Mountnorris, and later Viscount Valentia.-Rise to...
and Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Philipps, Bt
Sir John Philipps, 1st Baronet
Sir John Philipps, 1st Baronet was a Welsh landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1601.Philipps was the son of of Morgan Philipps of Picton and his wife Elizabeth Fletcher, daughter of Richard Fletcher of Bangor, Caernarvonshire. He was registrar of the diocese of Bangor...
, of Picton Castle
Picton Castle
Picton Castle is a medieval castle near Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Originally built at the end of the 13th century by Sir John Wogan and is still inhabited by his descendants, the Philipps family ....
. He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, from which he graduated in 1634 as a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
; that year, he was admitted into Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
. Having made the grand tour he returned to Ireland; and being employed by Parliament on a mission to the Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde PC was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the second of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom. He was the friend of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, who appointeed him commander of the Cavalier forces in Ireland. From 1641 to 1647, he...
, now reduced to the last extremities, he succeeded in concluding a treaty with him on 19 June 1647, thus securing the country from complete subjection to the rebels. In April 1647 he was returned for Radnorshire
Radnorshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Radnorshire was created in 1542 as a 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 1918...
to 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...
.
He supported the parliamentarians against the republican or army party, and appears to have been one of the members excluded in 1648. He sat in Richard Cromwell
Richard Cromwell
At the same time, the officers of the New Model Army became increasingly wary about the government's commitment to the military cause. The fact that Richard Cromwell lacked military credentials grated with men who had fought on the battlefields of the English Civil War to secure their nation's...
's parliament for 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 Dublin City
Dublin City (Parliament of Ireland constituency)
Dublin City was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons to 1801.-History:In the Patriot Parliament of 1689 summoned by King James II, Dublin City was represented with two members. In the 1760s the radical politician Charles Lucas used the seat as his political base.-1689–1801:...
, and endeavoured to take his seat in the restored Rump Parliament
Rump Parliament
The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....
of 1659. He was made President of the Council of State
English Council of State
The English Council of State, later also known as the Protector's Privy Council, was first appointed by the Rump Parliament on 14 February 1649 after the execution of King Charles I....
in February 1660, and in the Convention Parliament sat for Carmarthen
Carmarthen (UK Parliament constituency)
Carmarthen was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1542 and 1997...
. The anarchy of the last months of the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...
converted him to royalism, and he showed great activity in bringing about the English Restoration. He used his influence in moderating measures of revenge and violence, and while sitting in judgement on the regicides was on the side of leniency. He was sworn of the Privy Council
Privy Council of England
The Privy Council of England, also known as His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England...
on 1 June and in November he succeeded his father as Viscount Valentia
Viscount Valentia
Viscount Valentia is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It has been created twice. The first creation came in 1621 for Henry Power. A year later, his kinsman Sir Francis Annesley, 1st Baronet, was given a "reversionary grant" of the viscountcy, which stated that on Power's death Annesley would be...
in the Irish peerage
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
. On 20 April 1661 he was created Baron Annesley, of Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
and Earl of Anglesey
Earl of Anglesey
The title of Earl of Anglesey was created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1623 when Christopher Villiers was created Earl of Anglesey, in Wales, as well as Baron Villiers. He was the younger brother of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham and the elder brother of John...
in the Peerage of England
Peerage of England
The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....
.
Anglesey supported the king's administration in parliament, but opposed strongly the unjust measure which, on the abolition of the court of wards, placed the extra burden of taxation thus rendered necessary on the excise. His services in the administration of Ireland were especially valuable. He filled the office of vice-treasurer from 1660 till 1667, served on the committee for carrying out the declaration for the settlement of Ireland and on the committee for Irish affairs, while later, in 1671 and 1672, he was a leading member of various commissions appointed to investigate the working of the Acts of Settlement. In February 1661 he had obtained a captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
cy of horse, and in 1667 he exchanged his post of Vice-Treasurer of Ireland for that of Treasurer of the Navy
Treasurer of the Navy
The Treasurer of the Navy was an office in the British government between the mid-16th and early 19th century. The office-holder was responsible for the financial maintenance of the Royal Navy. The office was a political appointment, and frequently was held by up-and-coming young politicians who...
.
Later years
His public career was marked by great independence and fidelity to principle. On 24 July 1663 he alone signed a protest against the bill "for the encouragement of trade", on the plea that owing to the free export of coin and bullion allowed by the act, and to the importation of foreign commodities being greater than the export of home goods, "it must necessarily follow ... that our silver will also be carried away into foreign parts and all trade fail for want of money." He especially disapproved of another clause in the same bill forbidding the importation of Irish cattle into England, a mischievous measure promoted by the Duke of BuckinghamGeorge Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG, PC, FRS was an English statesman and poet.- Upbringing and education :...
, and he opposed again the bill brought in with that object in January 1667. This same year his naval accounts were subjected to an examination in consequence of his indignant refusal to take part in the attack upon Ormonde; and he was suspended from his office in 1668, no charge, however, against him being substantiated. He took a prominent part in the dispute in 1671 between the two Houses concerning the right of the Lords to amend money bills, and wrote a learned pamphlet on the question entitled The Privileges of the House of Lords and Commons (1702), in which the right of the Lords was asserted. In April 1673 he was appointed Lord Privy Seal
Lord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the traditional sinecure offices of state...
, and was disappointed at not obtaining the Great Seal
Great Seal of the Realm
The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom is a seal that is used to symbolise the Sovereign's approval of important state documents...
the same year on the removal of Lord Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury PC , known as Anthony Ashley Cooper from 1621 to 1631, as Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, 2nd Baronet from 1631 to 1661, and as The Lord Ashley from 1661 to 1672, was a prominent English politician during the Interregnum and during the reign of King Charles...
.
In the bitter religious controversies of the time Anglesey showed great moderation and toleration. In 1674 he is mentioned as endeavouring to prevent the justices putting into force the laws against the Roman Catholics and Nonconformists. In the panic of the "Popish Plot" in 1678 he exhibited a saner judgment than most of his contemporaries and a conspicuous courage. On the 6th of December he protested with three other peers against the measure sent up from the Commons enforcing the disarming of all convicted recusants and taking bail from them to keep the peace; he was the only peer to dissent from the motion declaring the existence of an Irish plot; and though believing in the guilt and voting for the death of Lord Stafford
William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford
Blessed William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford was the youngest son of Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, and his wife, the former Alethea Talbot. He was a supporter of the Royalist cause before being implicated in the Popish Plot and executed for treason...
, he interceded, according to his own account, with the king for him as well as for Richard Langhorne and Oliver Plunkett
Oliver Plunkett
Saint Oliver Plunkett was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland....
, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.
His independent attitude drew upon him an attack by Dangerfield
Thomas Dangerfield
Thomas Dangerfield was an English conspirator.Dangerfield was born about 1650 at Waltham Abbey, Essex, the son of a farmer...
, and in the Commons by the Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
, Sir William Jones
William Jones (law-officer)
-Life:He was son of Richard Jones, of Stowey, Somerset, M.P. for Somerset in 1654, and entered Gray's Inn on 6 May 1647. He was called to the bar, and acquired a practice in the court of king's bench...
, who accused him of endeavouring to stifle the evidence against the Romanists. In March 1679 he protested against the second reading of the bill for disabling the Earl of Danby
Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds
Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, KG , English statesman , served in a variety of offices under Kings Charles II and William III of England.-Early life, 1632–1674:The son of Sir Edward Osborne, Bart., of Kiveton, Yorkshire, Thomas Osborne...
.
In 1681 Anglesey wrote A Letter from a Person of Honour in the Country, as a rejoinder to the Earl of Castlehaven
James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven
James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven was the son of Mervyn Tuchet, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven and his first wife, Elizabeth Barnham...
, who had published memoirs on the Irish rebellion defending the action of the Irish and the Roman Catholics. In so doing Anglesey was held by Ormonde to have censured his conduct and that of Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
in concluding the "Cessation", and the duke brought the matter before the council. In 1682 he wrote The Account of Arthur, Earl of Anglesey ... of the true state of Your Majesty's Government and Kingdom, which was addressed to the king in a tone of censure and remonstrance, but appears not to have been printed till 1694. In consequence he was dismissed on 9 August 1682 from the office of Lord Privy Seal.
In 1683 Anglesey appeared at the Old Bailey as a witness in defence of Lord Russell
William Russell, Lord Russell
William Russell, Lord Russell was an English politician. He was a leading member of the Country Party, forerunners of the Whigs, who opposed the succession of James II during the reign of Charles II, ultimately resulting in his execution for treason.-Early life and marriage:Russell was the third...
, and in June 1685 he protested alone against the revision of Lord Stafford
William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford
Blessed William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford was the youngest son of Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, and his wife, the former Alethea Talbot. He was a supporter of the Royalist cause before being implicated in the Popish Plot and executed for treason...
's attainder. He divided his time between his estate at Blechingdon in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, and his house on Drury Lane
Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....
in London, where he died in 1686 from quinsy
Peritonsillar abscess
Peritonsillar abscess , also called a quinsy or abbreviated as PTA is a recognised complication of tonsillitis and consists of a collection of pus beside the tonsil .-Symptoms and signs:...
, closing a career marked by great ability, statesmanship and business capacity, and by conspicuous courage and independence of judgement. He amassed a large fortune in Ireland, in which country he had been allotted lands by Cromwell. At his death, his library of books was believed to be the largest English library not in ecclesiastical hands. He was buried at Farnborough, 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...
.
The unfavourable character drawn of him by Burnet
Gilbert Burnet
Gilbert Burnet was a Scottish theologian and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Burnet was respected as a cleric, a preacher, and an academic, as well as a writer and historian...
is certainly unjust and not supported by any evidence. Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
, a far more trustworthy judge, speaks of him invariably in terms of respect and approval as a "grave, serious man," and commends his appointment as treasurer of the navy as that of "a very notable man and understanding and will do things regular and understand them himself." He was a learned and cultivated man and collected a celebrated library, which was dispersed at his death. Besides the pamphlets already mentioned, he wrote:—A True Account of the Whole Proceedings betwixt ... the Duke of Ormond and ... the Earl of Anglesey (1682); A Letter of Remarks upon Jovian (1683); other works ascribed to him being The King's Right of Indulgence in Matters Spiritual ... asserted (1688); Truth Unveiled, to which is added a short Treatise on ... Transubstantiation (1676); The Obligation resulting from the Oath of Supremacy (1688); and England's Confusion (1659). Memoirs of Lord Anglesey were published by Sir P. Pett in 1693, but contain little biographical information and were repudiated as a mere imposture by Sir John Thompson (Lord Haversham), his son-in-law, in his preface to Lord Anglesey's State of the Government in 1694. The author however of the preface to The Rights of the Lords asserted (1702), while blaming their publication as "scattered and unfinished papers," admits their genuineness.
Marriage and legacy
Anglesey married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Sir James AlthamJames Altham
-Early Life:Altham was descended from Christopher Altham of Girlington, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He was the third son of James Altham of Mark Hall, Latton, in Essex, Sheriff of London in 1557, and sheriff of Essex in 1570, by Elizabeth Blancke, daughter of Thomas Blancke of London,...
of Oxey, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, a baron of the Exchequer. They had seven sons and six daughters, including:
- JamesJames Annesley, 2nd Earl of AngleseyJames Annesley, 2nd Earl of Anglesey FRS was a British peer.He was the son of Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey and Elizabeth Altham.He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford University, on 4 December 1661....
(1645–1690), who succeeded as 2nd Earl of AngleseyEarl of AngleseyThe title of Earl of Anglesey was created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1623 when Christopher Villiers was created Earl of Anglesey, in Wales, as well as Baron Villiers. He was the younger brother of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham and the elder brother of John...
, married (in 1669) Elizabeth, daughter of John Manners, 8th Earl of RutlandJohn Manners, 8th Earl of RutlandJohn Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he inherited the peerage....
and Frances Montagu; - Altham, created Baron Altham;
- Richard (died 1791), served as Dean of ExeterDean of ExeterThe Dean of Exeter is the head of the Chapter of Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, England. The chapter was established by Bishop William Briwere who set up the offices of Dean and chancellor of Exeter Cathedral, allowing the chapter to elect those officers.The current Dean lives at the...
and succeeded as 3rd Baron Altham, married Dorothy, daughter of John Davey, of Ruxford, Devon; - Arthur;
- Charles;
- Dorothy, married Richard Power, 1st Earl of Tyrone (1630–1690) in 1654;
- Elizabeth, married Alexander MacDonnell, 3rd Earl of AntrimAlexander MacDonnell, 3rd Earl of AntrimAlexander MacDonnell, 3rd Earl of Antrim was an Roman Catholic peer and military commander in Ireland. He was the son of Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim and his wife, Alice O'Neill .After coming of age, MacDonnell spend three years abroad in Europe before returning to Ireland just before the...
(1615–1699); - Frances (died 1704/5), married firstly Francis Windham, of Felbrigg, Norfolk, and secondly (in 1668) John Thompson, 1st Baron Haversham;
- Philippa (died 1714/5), married firstly Charles Mohun, 3rd Baron Mohun (their son was the duellist Charles, 4th Baron MohunCharles Mohun, 4th Baron MohunCharles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun was an English politician best known for his frequent participation in duels and his reputation as a rake....
), and secondly William Coward, of Wells, Somerset; and - Anne.
James' sons succeeded as the 3rd
James Annesley, 3rd Earl of Anglesey
James Annesley, 3rd Earl of Anglesey , succeeded to his Earldom on his father's death in 1690. He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford in 1690. His mother was Lady Elizabeth Manners, daughter of John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland...
, 4th and 5th
Arthur Annesley, 5th Earl of Anglesey
Arthur Annesley, 5th Earl of Anglesey PC, PC was an Anglo-Irish politician. He was a Member of Parliament in both the British and Irish lower houses before succeeding as 6th Viscount Valentia and 5th Earl of Anglesey, joining both the upper houses...
earls. Richard's second son, Richard
Richard Annesley, 6th Earl of Anglesey
Richard Annesley, 6th Earl of Anglesey , known as The Lord Altham between 1727 and 1737, was an Irish peer and governor of Wexford. He is known for the doubts surrounding his claim to the barony of Altham, and for the questions as to the legitimacy of his marriages and therefore his son's claim to...
(died 1761), succeeded his cousin as the 6th earl, and left a son Arthur
Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Mountnorris
Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Mountnorris FRS was an Irish peer.He was the son of Richard Annesley, 6th Earl of Anglesey, and the Countess Juliana Donovan, who belonged to the junior sept of the O'Donovans of Clan Loughlin, the Donovans of Ballymore in County Wexford...
(1744–1816), whose legitimacy was doubted and his father's English titles were declared extinct. He was summoned to the Irish House of Peers as Viscount Valentia, but was denied his writ to the parliament of Great Britain by a majority of one vote. He was created Earl of Mountnorris in 1793 in the Peerage of Ireland. All the male descendants of the 1st Earl of Anglesey became extinct in the person of George, 2nd Earl of Mountnorris
George Annesley, 2nd Earl of Mountnorris
George Annesley, 2nd Earl of Mountnorris FRS , styled Viscount Valentia between 1793 and 1816, was a British peer and politician.-Background:Mountnorris was the son of Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Mountnorris, and the Hon...
, in 1844, when the titles of Viscount Valentia and Baron Mountnorris passed to his cousin Arthur (1785–1863), who thus became 10th Viscount Valentia, being descended from the 1st Viscount Valentia the father of the 1st Earl of Anglesey in the Annesley family. The 1st viscount was also the ancestor of the Earls Annesley
Earl Annesley
Earl Annesley, of Castlewellan in the County of Down, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 17 August 1789 for Francis Annesley, 2nd Viscount Glerawly, with special remainder to his younger brother the Hon. Richard Annesley. He had previously represented Downpatrick in the Irish...
in the Irish peerage.
Titles and styles
- The Hon. Arthur Annesley (10 July 1614 – 1 June 1660)
- The Rt Hon. Arthur Annesley (1 June – 22 November 1660)
- The Rt Hon. The Viscount Valentia PC (22 November 1660 – 20 April 1661)
- The Rt Hon. The Earl of Anglesey PC (20 April 1661 – 6 April 1686)