Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield
Encyclopedia
Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield PC
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...

 (ca. 1618 – 7 January 1694) was an English aristocrat, soldier and courtier.

Life

The eldest son of Sir Charles Gerard, he was a member of an old Lancashire family, his great-grandfather having been Sir Gilbert Gerard (died 1593) of Ince, in that county, one of the most distinguished judges in the reign of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

. His mother was Penelope Fitton of Gawsworth Hall, Cheshire. Charles' claim to Gawsworth as heir of his uncle Sir Edward Fitton (died 1643) involved him in a bitter 20 year dispute with his Irish cousins William Fitton and William's son Alexander (later Lord Chancellor of Ireland
Lord Chancellor of Ireland
The office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801 it was also the highest political office of the Irish Parliament.-13th century:...

) but was eventually successful.

Charles Gerard was educated abroad, and in the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....

 learnt soldiering, in which he showed himself proficient when on the outbreak of the Civil War in England
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

 he raised a troop of horse for the king's service. Gerard commanded a brigade with distinction at Edgehill
Battle of Edgehill
The Battle of Edgehill was the first pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642....

, and gained further honors at the first battle of Newbury and at Newark in 1644, for which service he was appointed to the chief command in South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

.

Here his operations in 1644 and 1645 were completely successful in reducing the Parliamentarians
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...

 to subjection; but the severity with which he ravaged the country made him personally so unpopular that when, after the defeat at Naseby
Battle of Naseby
The Battle of Naseby was the key battle of the first English Civil War. On 14 June 1645, the main army of King Charles I was destroyed by the Parliamentarian New Model Army commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell.-The Campaign:...

 in June 1645, the king endeavoured to raise fresh forces in Wales, he was compelled to remove Gerard from the local command. Gerard was, however, retained in command of the king's guard during Charles' march from Wales to Oxford, and thence to Hereford and Chester in August 1645; and having been severely wounded at Rowton Heath
Battle of Rowton Heath
The Battle of Rowton Heath occurred on 24 September 1645 during the English Civil War between the Parliamentarians, commanded by Sydnam Poyntz, and the Royalists under the personal command of King Charles I...

 on 23 September, he reached Newark with Charles on 4 October.

On 8 November 1645 he was created Baron Gerard
Baron Gerard
There have been three baronies created for descendants of the Gerard family who resided at Bryn, Ashton in Makerfield, Lancashire and Kingsley, Cheshire in the 13th century....

, of Brandon in the County of Suffolk; but about the same time he appears to have forfeited Charles's favour by having attached himself to the party of Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, 1st Duke of Cumberland, 1st Earl of Holderness , commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, KG, FRS was a noted soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor and amateur artist during the 17th century...

, with whom after the surrender of Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 Gerard probably went abroad. He remained on the Continent throughout the whole period of the Commonwealth, sometimes in personal attendance on 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...

, at others serving in the wars under Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne,often called simply Turenne was the most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family. He achieved military fame and became a Marshal of France...

, and constantly engaged in plots and intrigues. For one of these, an alleged design on the life of Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

, his cousin Colonel John Gerard, was executed in the Tower
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

 in July 1654.

At the Restoration, Gerard rode at the head of the king's life-guards in his triumphal entry into London; his forfeited estates were restored, and he received lucrative offices and pensions.

In 1662 he finally succeeded in recovering Gawsworth from his Fitton cousins; when Alexander Fitton
Alexander Fitton
Sir Alexander Fitton sometimes known as Baron Gawsworth, was an Irish barrister who became Lord Chancellor of Ireland despite having spent many years in prison.- Family and early career :...

 claimed that Gerard had won the case by suborning witnesses, he was prosecuted for libelling a peer and imprisoned, although many people believed his accusations.

In 1668 he retired from the command of the king's guard to make room for the Duke of Monmouth
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch, KG, PC , was an English nobleman. Originally called James Crofts or James Fitzroy, he was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II and his mistress, Lucy Walter...

, receiving, according to 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...

, the sum of £12,000 as solatium
Solatium
Solatium is a form of compensation for emotional rather than physical or financial harm.- Scots law :It is used in Scots law mainly to denote reparation for pain and suffering in personal injury cases...

. On 23 July 1679 Gerard was created Earl of Newberry (changed on 20 August to Earl of Macclesfield
Earl of Macclesfield
Earl of Macclesfield is a title that has been created twice. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1679 in favour of the soldier and politician Charles Gerard, 1st Baron Gerard...

) and Viscount Brandon. A few months later he entered into relations with Monmouth, and co-operated with Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury is a town in Dorset, England, situated on the A30 road near the Wiltshire border 20 miles west of Salisbury. The town is built 718 feet above sea level on the side of a chalk and greensand hill, which is part of Cranborne Chase, the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset...

 in protesting against the rejection of the Exclusion Bill.

In September 1685, a proclamation having been issued for his arrest, Macclesfield escaped abroad, and was outlawed. He returned with William of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...

 in 1688, and commanded his body-guard in the march from Devonshire to London. By William he was made a privy councillor, and Lord Lieutenant of Wales and three western counties. Macclesfield died on 7 January 1694. The title and his estates passed to his son and heir Charles
Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield
Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield PC was an English aristocrat, soldier and courtier.-Life:The eldest son of Sir Charles Gerard, he was a member of an old Lancashire family, his great-grandfather having been Sir Gilbert Gerard of Ince, in that county, one of the most distinguished judges...

.

Family

With his French wife Macclesfield left two sons and two daughters.

Character

Samuel Pepys denounced him as a "proud and violent man" whose "rogueries and cheats" were notorious. Elrington Ball in his study of Alexander Fitton, while accepting that he was not a suitable character to be Lord Chancellor of Ireland, remarked that however bad Fitton's character it cannot have been as bad as Gerard's.

External links


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