Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham

Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham (baptised 1614 – 23 July 1666) was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

peer

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....

of the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

.

He succeeded to the title 14 October 1617 on the death in infancy of his elder brother Henry Willoughby, 4th Lord Willoughby of Parham

Henry Willoughby, 4th Baron Willoughby of Parham

Henry Willoughby, 4th Baron Willoughby of Parham was an English peer of the House of Lords.He was born in about November 1612, the son of William Willoughby, 3rd Baron Willoughby of Parham and Frances Manners, daughter of John Manners, 4th Earl of Rutland. On the death of his father in 1617, he...

. Francis Willoughby was second son of William Willoughby, 3rd Lord Willoughby of Parham

William Willoughby, 3rd Baron Willoughby of Parham

William Willoughby, 3rd Baron Willoughby of Parham was an English peer.He was born in Knaith, England, the son of William Willoughby and Elizabeth Hilyard...

The young and unexpected death of his elder brother Henry made Francis successor to the hereditary peerage and seat in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

, the upper house of Parliament. Francis Willoughby was an early supporter of the Parliamentarian

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...

cause during the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

but later became a Royalist

Cavalier

Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

. He twice served as governor of English colonies in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

. Francis Willoughby died without male heirs of his body and the title passed to his younger brother William Willoughby, 6th Lord Willoughby of Parham

William Willoughby, 6th Baron Willoughby of Parham

William Willoughby, 6th Lord Willoughby was an English peer of the House of Lords.He married Anne daughter of Sir Philip Carey of Stanwell or Hunslet . During his life he was Governor of the Caribee Islands, today known as the Caribbean...

, the third son of William Willoughby, 3rd Lord Willoughby of Parham

William Willoughby, 3rd Baron Willoughby of Parham

William Willoughby, 3rd Baron Willoughby of Parham was an English peer.He was born in Knaith, England, the son of William Willoughby and Elizabeth Hilyard...

Background

Francis Willoughby was born in perhaps 1605 to William Willoughby, 3rd Baron Willoughby of Parham

William Willoughby, 3rd Baron Willoughby of Parham

William Willoughby, 3rd Baron Willoughby of Parham was an English peer.He was born in Knaith, England, the son of William Willoughby and Elizabeth Hilyard...

and Frances Manners, daughter of John Manners, 4th Earl of Rutland

John Manners, 4th Earl of Rutland

John Manners, 4th Earl of Rutland was the son of Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland and Lady Margaret Neville.He married Elizabeth Charlton, daughter of Francis Charlton of Apley Castle they had ten children:...

of Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

at Parham in Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

. His father died in 1617, and the barony was held by his older brother Henry

Henry Willoughby, 4th Baron Willoughby of Parham

for one year until he too died, at which point Francis inherited the seat in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

and with it the family title.

On 16 November 1628 Willoughby married Elizabeth Cecil (1606–1661), the daughter of the soldier Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon

Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon

Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon was an English military and naval commander.-Life:The third son of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter and grandson of Queen Elizabeth's great minister Lord Burghley, Cecil served with the English forces in the Netherlands between 1596 and 1610, becoming a captain...

and Theodosia Noel.

As tensions between the king and Parliament grew in the 1630s, he found himself opposed to 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...

over the levying of ship money

Ship money

Ship money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...

. His loyalty was further strained by the Bishops' Wars

Bishops' Wars

The Bishops' Wars , were conflicts, both political and military, which occurred in 1639 and 1640 centred around the nature of the governance of the Church of Scotland, and the rights and powers of the Crown...

, in which he was reluctant to fight the Scots

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

Parliamentary Commander

When the king in 1642 issued his Commission of Array

Commission of Array

A Commission of Array was a commission given by English royalty to officers or gentry in a given territory to muster and array the inhabitants and to see them in a condition for war, or to put soldiers of a country in a condition for military service...

to form a loyal army, Willoughby rejected his summons and instead took command of a horse regiment under the Parliamentary commander, the Earl of Essex

Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex

Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex was an English Parliamentarian and soldier during the first half of the seventeenth century. With the start of the English Civil War in 1642 he became the first Captain-General and Chief Commander of the Parliamentarian army, also known as the Roundheads...

. By January of 1643 he was made commander-in-chief of Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

.

On 16 July of the same year, he led his soldiers in a surprise attack on Gainsborough

Gainsborough, Lincolnshire

Gainsborough is a town 15 miles north-west of Lincoln on the River Trent within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. At one time it served as an important port with trade downstream to Hull, and was the most inland in England, being more than 55 miles from the North...

where he seized the town. Facing a counterattack, Willoughby's soldiers fought along with those under Oliver 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....

to hold off an advancing Royalist force of superior strength. The main body of the Parliamentary army withdrew to Boston

Boston, Lincolnshire

Boston is a town and small port in Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England. It is the largest town of the wider Borough of Boston local government district and had a total population of 55,750 at the 2001 census...

with only two dead.

That September, Willoughby was a subordinate commander under the Earl of Manchester

Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester

Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester KG, KB, FRS was an important commander of Parliamentary forces in the First English Civil War, and for a time Oliver Cromwell's superior.-Life:...

and Cromwell. He fought at the Battle of Winceby

Battle of Winceby

The Battle of Winceby took place on 11 October 1643 during the English Civil War near the village of Winceby, Lincolnshire about 4 miles east of Horncastle.-Prelude:...

and accepted the surrender of Bolingbroke Castle

Bolingbroke Castle

Bolingbroke Castle is a ruined castle in Bolingbroke Lincolnshire, England.-Construction:Most of the castle is built of Spilsby greenstone, as are several nearby churches. The local greenstone is a limestone that proved to be porous, prone to rapid deterioration when exposed to weather and a...

in November.

Willoughby's relations with the Parliamentarians began to fray in 1644. In March he joined with Sir John Meldrum in the assault on Newark, the failure of which has been partially attributed to Willoughby's supposed unwillingness to take orders from Meldrum. Willoughby quarrelled with Manchester and was forced to make an apology to the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

as a result. Furthermore, Cromwell himself saw fit to complain about the conduct of Willoughby's soldiers.

In the next few years, Willoughby became the leader of the Presbyterian force within Parliament, opposed the formation of the New Model Army

New Model Army

The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...

and was elected as speaker of the House of Lords in July, 1647. However, when the Parliamentary army took London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

in September, Willoughby was imprisoned along with six other peers and held for four months at which point he was released without charge, fleeing to the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

to join the Royalists.

Royalist Supporter

Now espousing the Royalist cause, Willoughby was promoted to Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

under the Duke of York

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

, an appointment that may have been designed to engender sympathy among Scots and Presbyterians. He was also assigned a command in the 1648 invasion of England under the Prince of Wales

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 later surrendered his naval command to 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...

. When Parliament confiscated his estates, he travelled to the Caribbean.

He was appointed Governor of Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

by Charles II. He arrived at Barbados and took up the appointment in May of 1650 and attempted to negotiate the strained politics of that island, which also experienced a division between Royalists and Parliamentarians. During this time he also sent a small colonizing party to Suriname

Suriname

Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...

, which established Fort Willoughby (now Paramaribo

Paramaribo

Paramaribo is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 250,000 people, more than half of Suriname's population...

) in honor of the governor.

On 25 October 1651, a seven ship force under Commodore George Ayscue

George Ayscue

Admiral Sir George Ayscue was an English naval officer who served in the Civil War and the Anglo-Dutch Wars.In 1648, during the Civil War, while serving as a captain in the navy of the English Parliament, he prevented the fleet from defecting to the Royalists, and was promoted to General at Sea...

arrived off Barbados, demanding that the island submit "for the use of the Parliament of England". Willoughby's reply (tellingly addressed to "His Majesty's ship Rainbow") was unyielding, declaring that he knew "no supreme authority over Englishmen but the King". With some 400 horsemen and 6,000 militia, he was prepared to resist any attempt at coercion.

Over the next month Barbados was blockaded. In early December, with the Royalist cause defeated in England, Ayscue began a series of raids against fortifications on the island and was reinforced by a group of thirteen ships bound for Virginia. On 17 December a force of more than 1,000 Barbadian militia was defeated by one of Ayscue's detachments. Governor Willoughby attempted to stem the spread of Parliamentary sympathies by hanging two of the returning militia soldiers and prohibiting the reading of documents from the blockading fleet. The Royalists held out for several more weeks until one of Willoughby's own commanders declared himself for Parliament. A battle was averted by a week of rain, after which Willoughby, perhaps having seen the hopelessness of his cause, sought negotiations. He was replaced as governor but Barbados and the Royalists there were not punished. Additionally, Willoughby's properties in England were restored. He returned to them in August 1652.

Later years

While he was twice imprisoned during The Protectorate

The Protectorate

In British history, the Protectorate was the period 1653–1659 during which the Commonwealth of England was governed by a Lord Protector.-Background:...

for involvement in Royalist intrigues, Willoughby survived the Cromwell years and after the Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

in 1660 he was again appointed to a governorship in the Caribbean, administering the colonies at Saint Kitts

Saint Kitts

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts Saint Kitts (also known more formally as Saint Christopher Island (Saint-Christophe in French) is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean...

, Nevis

Nevis

Nevis is an island in the Caribbean Sea, located near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 350 km east-southeast of Puerto Rico and 80 km west of Antigua. The 93 km² island is part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies...

, Montserrat

Montserrat

Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...

, and Antigua

Antigua

Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...

.

In June 1664 he organized an expedition from Barbados against the small French garrison at Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...

, expelling it under the pretext that a half-Carib native had effectively "sold" it to England and establishing a short-lived English colony there.

During the Second Anglo-Dutch War

Second Anglo-Dutch War

The Second Anglo–Dutch War was part of a series of four Anglo–Dutch Wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes....

, Willoughby engaged in another expedition, sailing to the Dutch island of Tobago

Tobago

Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...

in July 1665. Finding a force under the English privateer Robert Searle already looting the settlement there, he put a stop to the destruction and installed a garrison of fifty men to maintain order.

His last act on behalf of the English crown came in July 1666 when, having learned of the recent French seizure of Saint Kitts

Saint Kitts

, he formed a relief force of two Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

s, twelve other large vessels (including commandeered merchant ships), a fire ship

Fire ship

A fire ship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, deliberately set on fire and steered into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy ships, or to create panic and make the enemy break formation. Ships used as fire ships were usually old and worn out or...

, and a ketch

Ketch

A ketch is a sailing craft with two masts: a main mast, and a shorter mizzen mast abaft of the main mast, but forward of the rudder post. Both masts are rigged mainly fore-and-aft. From one to three jibs may be carried forward of the main mast when going to windward...

, bearing over 1,000 men. He planned to proceed north to Nevis, Montserrat, and Antigua to gather further reinforcements before descending on the French. Leaving Barbados on 28 July, his force prowled off Martinique

Martinique

Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...

and then Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...

, where he sent a frigate to assault the harbor and capture two merchant vessels on 4 August. This success could not be exploited however as that night most of his force was destroyed by a strong hurricane, including the flagship Hope, from which Willoughby did not emerge.

Will and family relations

Francis Willoughby and Elizabeth Cecil had four children:

Diana, married 21 May 1673 Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Winchilsea
Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Winchilsea
Sir Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Winchilsea of Eastwell, Kent, was the 3rd Earl of Winchilsea.Finch was the son of Thomas Finch, 2nd Earl of Winchilsea, and the grandson of Elizabeth Finch, 1st Countess of Winchilsea. His first cousin was Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham. He married four...

.
Frances Willoughby(1625 – 1659) married William Brereton, 3rd Lord Brereton
Elizabeth Willoughby (born about 1633 – 1695) married 28 October 1662 Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh
Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh
Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh PC FRS , known as The Viscount Ranelagh between 1669 and 1677, was an Irish peer, politician both in the Parliaments of England and Ireland.-Background:...
William Willoughby (born about 1635); died young and unmarried in his father's lifetime

In his will, he left extensive holdings in Barbados

Barbados

, Antigua

Antigua

, and Suriname

Suriname

to his children and his nephew Henry Willoughby

Henry Willoughby (governor)

Henry Willoughby was an English military officer, the Governor of Barbados and Antigua .He was the fifth son of William Willoughby, 6th Baron Willoughby of Parham.-External links:*...

as well as smaller grants of currency or sugar to various associates and servants.

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