Christopher Nugent
Encyclopedia
Sir Christopher Nugent, 6th (or 14th) Baron Delvin (1544–1602) was an Irish nobleman and writer. He was arrested on suspicion of treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

 against Queen Elizabeth I of England
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...

, and died while in confinement before his trial had taken place.

Family and early years

He was the eldest son of Richard, 5th (or13th) Baron Delvin, and Elizabeth, daughter of Jenico, Viscount Gormanston, widow of Thomas Nangle, styled Baron of Navan. Richard Nugent, fourth or twelfth Baron Delvin, was his great-grandfather. He succeeded to the title on the death of his father, on 10 December 1559, and during his minority was the ward of Thomas Ratcliffe
Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex
Thomas Radclyffe 3rd Earl of Sussex was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland during the Tudor period of English history, and a leading courtier during the reign of Elizabeth I.- Family:...

, third earl of Sussex, for whom he conceived a great friendship.

He was matriculated a fellow-commoner of Clare Hall, Cambridge
Clare Hall, Cambridge
Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students.Informality is a defining value at Clare Hall and this contributes to its unique character...

, on 12 May 1563, and was presented to the queen when she visited the university in 1564; on coming of age, about November 1565, he repaired to Ireland, with letters of commendation from the queen to the lord deputy, Sir Henry Sidney
Henry Sidney
Sir Henry Sidney , Lord Deputy of Ireland was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst, a prominent politician and courtier during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, from both of whom he received extensive grants of land, including the manor of Penshurst in Kent, which became the...

, granting him the lease in reversion of the abbey of All Saints and the custody of Sleaught-William in the Annaly, co. Longford, as a reward for his good behaviour in England. As an undertaker in the plantation of Leix and Offaly, he had previously obtained, on 3 February 1563-64, a grant of the castle and lands of Corbetstown, alias Ballycorbet, in Offaly (King's County). In the autumn of the following year he distinguished himself against Shane O'Neill, and was knighted at Drogheda
Drogheda
Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....

 by Sir Henry Sidney. On 30 June 1567 he obtained a lease of the abbey of Inchmore in the Annaly and the abbey of Fore
Fore Abbey
Fore Abbey is the old Benedictine Abbey ruin, situated to the north of Lough Lene in County Westmeath, Ireland.Fore village, is situated within a valley between two hills: the Hill of Ben, the Hill of Houndslow, and the Anchorland rise area...

 in co. Westmeath, to which was added on 7 October the lease of other lands in the same county.

Suspicions of disloyalty and treason

In July 1574 his refusal, with Lord Gormanston, to sign the proclamation of rebellion against the Earl of Desmond
Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond
Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond was an Irish nobleman and leader of the Desmond Rebellions of 1579.-Life:...

 laid his loyalty open to suspicion. He grounded his refusal on the fact that he was not a privy councillor, and had not been made acquainted with the reasons of the proclamation. But the English privy council, thinking that his objections savoured more of 'a wilful partiality to an offender against her majesty than a willing readiness to her service', sent peremptory orders for his submission. Fresh letters of explanation were proffered by him and Gormanston in February 1575, but, being deemed insufficient, the two noblemen were in May placed under restraint. They thereupon confessed their 'fault,' and Delvin shortly afterwards appears to have recovered the good opinion of government: for on 15 December Sir Henry Sidney wrote that he expected a speedy reformation of the country, 'a great deal the rather through the good hope I conceive of the service of my lord of Delvin, whom I find active and of good discretion'; and in April 1576 Delvin entertained Sidney while on progress. Before the end of the year, however, there sprang up a controversy between government and the gentry of the Pale in regard to cess, in which Delvin played a principal part.

It had long been the custom of the Irish government, in order to support the army, to take up provisions, &c., at a fixed price. This custom had become irksome to the inhabitants of the Pale. In 1576, at the instigation chiefly of Delvin, they denounced the custom as unconstitutional, and appointed three of their number to lay their grievances before the queen. The deputation met with scant courtesy in England. Elizabeth was indignant at having her prerogative called in question, and, after roundly abusing the deputies for their impertinence, clapped them in the Fleet. In Ireland a similar course was pursued by Sir Henry Sidney
Henry Sidney
Sir Henry Sidney , Lord Deputy of Ireland was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst, a prominent politician and courtier during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, from both of whom he received extensive grants of land, including the manor of Penshurst in Kent, which became the...

, and in May 1577 Delvin, Baltinglas
James Eustace, 3rd Viscount Baltinglass
James Eustace of Harristown, 3rd Viscount BaltinglassJames FitzEustace, the eldest son of Roland FitzEustace, the 2nd Viscount of Baltinglass and Joan, daughter of James Butler, 8th Baron Dunboyne. He was born in 1530 and died in Spain in 1585...

, and others were confined in the castle. There was, however, no intention on Elizabeth's part to push matters to extremities, and, after some weeks' detention, the deputies and their principals were released on expressing contrition for their conduct. But with Delvin, 'for that he has showed himself to be the chiefest instrument in terrifying and dispersuading the rest of the associates from yielding their submission', she was particularly angry, and left it entirely to Sidney's discretion whether he should remain in prison for some time longer. Finally an arrangement was arrived at between the government and the gentry of the Pale, and to this result Delvin's 'obstinacy' no doubt contributed. His conduct does not seem to have damaged him seriously; for in the autumn of 1579 he was entrusted with the command of the forces of the Pale, and was reported to have done good service in defending the northern marches against the inroads of Turlough Luineach O'Neill. His 'obstinate affection to popery,' however, told greatly in his disfavour, and it was as much for this general reason as for any proof of his treason they possessed that the Irish government, in December 1580, committed him, along with his father-in-law, Gerald Fitzgerald
Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare
Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare , also known as the "Wizard Earl" , was an Irish peer....

, eleventh earl of Kildare, to the castle on suspicion of being implicated in the rebellious projects of Viscount Baltinglas. The higher officials, including Lord-deputy Grey
Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton
Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton was a baron in the Peerage of England, remembered mainly for his memoir of his father, and for participating in the last defence of Calais.-Life:...

, were firmly convinced of his treason; but with all their efforts they were unable to establish their charge against him. Accordingly, after an imprisonment of eighteen months in Dublin Castle, he and Kildare were sent to England in the custody of Marshal Bagenal. At home the Nugent family's traditional enemies, notably the Dillons, moved against his relatives. His uncle Nicholas Nugent
Nicholas Nugent
Nicholas Nugent was an Irish judge, unique among the Irish judiciary in being hanged for treason. He had had a highly successful career, holding office as Solicitor General for Ireland, Baron of the Irish Court of Exchequer, and Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, but was destroyed by the...

, the Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas
Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas
The Chief Justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the senior judge of the Court of Common Pleas ,known in its early stage as the Common Bench or simply Bench, one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of Common Pleas in England...

, was suspended from office, and, in an unprecedented move, tried for treason and hanged. Delvin's younger brother William Nugent
William Nugent
William Nugent was an Irish rebel, brother of Christopher, fourteenth baron of Delvin , and the younger son of Richard Nugent, thirteenth baron Delvin, from whom he inherited the manor and castle of Ross in County Meath.-Life and politics:He first acquired notoriety in December 1573 by his...

 was driven into open rebellion, but eventually obtained a pardon.

On 22 June 1582 Delvin was examined by Lord-chancellor Mildmay and Gerard, master of the rolls. No fresh evidence of his treason was adduced, and Wallop
Henry Wallop
Sir Henry Wallop was an English statesman.He was the eldest son of Sir Oliver Wallop of Farleigh Wallop in Hampshire. Having inherited the estates of his father and of his uncle, Sir John Wallop, he was knighted in 1569 and was chosen member of parliament for Southampton in 1572...

 heard with alarm that it was intended to set him at liberty. But, though not permitted to return immediately to Ireland, he was apparently allowed a considerable amount of personal liberty, and in April 1585 he was again in Ireland, sitting as a peer in the parliament that was then held. During the course of the year he was again in England; but after the death, on 16 November 1585, of the Earl of Kildare he was allowed to repair to Ireland, 'in company of the young Earl of Kildare
Henry FitzGerald, 12th Earl of Kildare
-Background:Kildare was the son of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare and Mabel Browne.-Military career:Nicknamed Henry "na Tuagh", or Henry "of the Battleaxes", he fought against the Spanish invaders in Ireland in 1588...

, partly for execution of the will of the earl, his father-in-law, partly to look into the estates of his own lands, from whence he hath been so long absent'. He carried letters of commendation to the lord-deputy, Sir John Perrot
John Perrot
Sir John Perrot served as Lord Deputy of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I of England during the Tudor conquest of Ireland...

; and the queen, 'the better to express her favour towards him,' granted him a renewal of the leases he held from the crown. He was under obligations to return to England as soon as he had transacted his business. But during his absence many suits to his lands had arisen, and, owing to the hostility of Sir Robert Dillon
Robert Dillon (judge)
Sir Robert Dillon was a lawyer, judge and politician in the 16th century Kingdom of Ireland, a Speaker of the Irish House of Commons.Dillon was of Newtown, County Meath...

, chief justice of the common pleas, and Chief baron Sir Lucas Dillon, his hereditary enemies, he found it difficult to put the law in motion. However, he seems to have returned to England in 1587, and, having succeeded in securing Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...

's favour, he was allowed in October 1588 to return to Ireland. Lord-deputy Sir William Fitzwilliam
William Fitzwilliam (Lord Deputy)
- Early life :FitzWilliam was born at Milton, Northamptonshire, the eldest son of Sir William and grandson of William Fitzwilliam , alderman and sheriff of London, who had been treasurer and chamberlain to Cardinal Wolsey and who purchased Milton in 1506...

 was not without his doubts as to the wisdom of this step. He hoped, he wrote to Burghley, that Delvin would "throughly performe that honorable and good opynion it hath pleased yr Lp. to conceave of him, wch no doubt he may very sufficiently do, and wth all do her matie great service in action, both cyvill and martiall, if to the witt wherewth God hath indued him and the loue and liking wherewth the countrey doth affect him, he applie him self wth his best endevor." All the same he included him in his list of 'doubtful men in Ireland.' One cause that told greatly in his disfavour was his extreme animosity against Chief Justice Dillon
Robert Dillon (judge)
Sir Robert Dillon was a lawyer, judge and politician in the 16th century Kingdom of Ireland, a Speaker of the Irish House of Commons.Dillon was of Newtown, County Meath...

, whom, rightly or wrongly, he regarded as having done to death his kinsman Nicholas Nugent. To Burghley, who warned him that he was regarded with suspicion, he protested his loyalty and readiness to quit all that was dear to him in Ireland, and live in poverty in England, rather than that the queen should conceive the least thought of undutifulness in him. He led, he declared, an orderly life, avoiding discontented society, every term following the law in Dublin for the recovery of his lands, and serving the queen at the assizes in his own neighbourhood. The rest of his time he spent in books and building.

All this was probably quite true; but the extreme violence with which he prosecuted Chief-justice Dillon certainly afforded ground to his enemies to describe him as a discontented and seditious person, especially when, after the acquittal of Dillon, he charged the lord-deputy with having acted with undue partiality. However, in 1593 he was appointed leader of the forces of Westmeath
County Westmeath
-Economy:Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin–Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar...

 at the general hosting on the hill of Tara
Hill of Tara
The Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...

, and during the disturbed period (1593-7) that preceded the rebellion of Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, he displayed great activity in his defence of the Pale, he was warmly commended for his zeal by Sir John Norris
John Norreys
Sir John Norreys , also frequently spelt John Norris, was an English soldier of a Berkshire family of court gentry, the son of Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys a lifelong friend of Queen Elizabeth....

. He obtained permission to visit England in 1597, and in consequence of his recent chargeable and valourous services, he was, on 7 May, ordered a grant of so much of the O'Farrells' and O'Reillys' lands as amounted to an annual rent to the crown of 100/. ; but, by reason of the disturbed state of the country, the warrant was never executed during his lifetime. On 20 May he was appointed a commissioner to inquire into abuses in the government of Ireland. On 17 March 1598 a commission (renewed on 3 July and 30 October) was issued to him and Edward Nugent of the Dísert to deliver the gaol of Mullingar by martial law, for 'that the gaol is now very much pestered with a great number of prisoners, the most part whereof are poor men ... and that there can be no sessions held whereby the prisoners might receive their trial by ordinary course of law'. On 7 August 1599 he was granted the wardship of his grandson, Christopher Chevers, with a condition that he should cause his ward 'to be maintained and educated in the English religion, and in English apparel, in the college of the Holy Trinity, Dublin'; in November he was commissioned by the Earl of Ormonde
Thomas Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormonde
Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormonde and 3rd Earl of Ossory, Viscount Thurles , was an Irish peer and the son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond and Lady Joan Fitzgerald daughter and heiress-general of James FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond...

 to hold a parley with the Earl of Tyrone.

On the outbreak of Tyrone's rebellion his attitude at first was one of loyalty, but the extreme severity with which his country was treated by Tyrone on his march into Munster, early in 1600, induced him to submit to him; and, though he does not appear to have rendered him any active service, he was shortly afterwards arrested on suspicion of treason by Lord-deputy Mountjoy, and confined in Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle off Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, was until 1922 the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland, and is now a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland...

. He died in confinement before his trial, apparently on 17 August 1602, though by another account on 5 September or 1 October and was buried at Castle Delvin on 5 October.

Marriage and issue

Delvin married Lady Mary FitzGerald, daughter of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare
Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare
Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare , also known as the "Wizard Earl" , was an Irish peer....

, and Mabel Browne
Mabel Browne
Mabel Browne, Countess of Kildare was the wife of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare, Baron of Offaly . She was born into the English Roman Catholic Browne family whose members held prominent positions at the courts of the Tudorsovereigns for three generations...

 who died 1 October 1610. By her he had issue: Richard Nugent, 1st Earl of Westmeath
Richard Nugent, 1st Earl of Westmeath
Richard Nugent, 1st Earl of Westmeath was an Irish nobleman and politician of the early seventeenth century. Imprisoned for plotting against the Crown in 1607, he soon obtained a pardon and thereafter was regarded as a reliable supporter of the Government...

 (1583–1642), Christopher of Corbetstown, Gerald, Thomas, Gilbert, and William; also Mabel, who married, first, Murrough O'Brien, third baron Inchiquin
Baron Inchiquin
Baron Inchiquin is one of the older titles in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1543 for Murrough O'Brien, Prince of Thomond, who was descended from the great high king Brian Boru)...

: secondly, John Fitzpatrick, second son of Florence, lord of Upper Ossory; Elizabeth, who married Gerald Fitzgerald, fourteenth earl of Kildare; Mary, first wife of Anthony O'Dempsey, heir-apparent to Terence, first viscount Clanmalier; Eleanor, wife of Christopher Chevers of Macetown, co. Meath; Margaret, who married a Fitzgerald; Juliana, second wife of Sir Gerald Aylmer of Donade, co. Kildare.

Works

Delvin was the author of:

1. A Primer of the Irish Language, compiled at the request and for the use of Queen Elizabeth. It is described by John Thomas Gilbert
John Thomas Gilbert
Sir John Thomas Gilbert was an Irish archivist, antiquarian and historian.-Life:John Thomas Gilbert was the second son of John Gilbert, an English Protestant, who was Portuguese consul in Dublin, and Marianne Gilbert, an Irish Catholic, daughter of Henry Costello. He was born in Jervis Street,...

 as a 'small and elegantly written volume,' consisting of 'an address to the queen in English, an introductory statement in Latin, followed by the Irish alphabet, the vowels, consonants, and diphthongs, with words and phrases in Irish, Latin, and English.'

2. A Plot for the Reformation of Ireland, which, though short, is not without interest, as expressing the views of what may be described as the moderate or constitutional party in Ireland as distinct from officialdom on the one hand, and the mere Irishry on the other. He complains that the viceroy's authority is too absolute; that the institution of presidents of provinces is unnecessary; that justice is not administered impartially; that the people are plundered by a beggarly soldiery, who find it to their interest to create dissensions; that the prince's word is pledged recklessly and broken shamelessly, and, above all, that there is no means of education such as is furnished by a university provided for the gentry, "in myne opynion one of the cheifest causes of mischeif in the realme."

Sources

This incorporates the article by Robert Dunlop in the old DNB, who used the following sources:
  • Lodge's Peerage, ed. Mervyn Archdall, i. 233-7;
  • Charles Henry Cooper
    Charles Henry Cooper
    Charles Henry Cooper was an English antiquarian.-Life:Born at Marlow, Buckinghamshire, he was descended from a family formerly of Bray in Berkshire. He was privately educated in Reading. In 1826 he settled in Cambridge, and in 1836 was elected coroner of the borough...

    , Athenae Cantabr.. ii. 331-3, and authorities there quoted;
  • Calendar of State Papers, Ireland, Eliz.;
  • Cal. Carew MSS.;
  • Morrin's Cal. Patent Rolls, Eliz.;
  • Cal. Fiants, Eliz.;
  • Annals of the Four Masters
    Annals of the Four Masters
    The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history...

    , ed. O'Donovan;
  • Annals of Loch Cé, ed. Hennessy;
  • Fynes Moryson
    Fynes Moryson
    Fynes Moryson spent most of the decade of the 1590s travelling on the European continent and the eastern Mediterranean lands...

    , Itinerary;
  • Stafford's Pacata Hibernia;
  • Gilbert's Facsimiles of National MSS. of Ireland, iv. 1;
  • Richard Bagwell
    Richard Bagwell
    Richard Bagwell was a noted historian of the Stuart and Tudor periods in Ireland, and a political commentator with strong Unionist convictions.He was the eldest son of John Bagwell, M.P. for Clonmel from 1857 to 1874...

    , Ireland under the Tudors.


Also see:
  • David Mathew, The Celtic peoples and renaissance Europe (London, 1933).
  • Helen Coburn-Walsh The rebellion of William Nugent in R. V. Comerford (ed.) Religion, Conflict and co-existence in Ireland (Dublin, 1990).
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