Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon
Encyclopedia
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...
(2 June 1638 Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
– 31 October 1709 Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
) was an English aristocrat and politician. He held high office at the beginning of the reign of James II of England
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...
, who had married his sister.
Early life
He was the eldest son of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of ClarendonEdward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:...
and his wife, Frances Aylesbury
Frances Hyde, Countess of Clarendon
Frances Hyde, Countess of Clarendon - , was an English peeress and the mother-in-law of James II of England and grandmother of Queen Mary II and Queen Anne....
. He was thus a brother of Lady Anne Hyde, and maternal uncle to both Queen Mary II
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
and Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
. Both he and his brother Laurence Hyde were brought up partly at Antwerp and Breda
Breda
Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance...
, by their mother. Clarendon before 1660 made use of Henry as copyist, decipherer, and confidential secretary, in his correspondence with distant royalists.
Under Charles II
Soon after the return of his family to England in 1660 Hyde married Theodosia, daughter of Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham, and sister of Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort. She died in 1662, and in 1670 he married Flower, widow of William Bishop and Sir William Backhouse, and daughter of William BackhouseWilliam Backhouse
William Backhouse was a renowned English Rosicrucian philosopher, alchemist, and astrologer. He was born on 17 January 1593 at Swallowfield Park, some 5 miles south of Reading in the county of Berkshire, a younger son of Samuel Backhouse...
, gaining the manor and house of Swallowfield Park
Swallowfield Park
Swallowfield Park is a Grade II* listed stately home and estate in the English county of Berkshire. The house is situated near the village of Swallowfield, some 4 miles south of the town of Reading.-The House :...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
; later she was first lady of the bedchamber to Queen Anne. He had the courtesy title Lord Cornbury from 1661. He was Member of Parliament for Wiltshire
Wiltshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Wiltshire was a constituency of the House of Commons of England from 1290 to 1707, of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament , elected by the bloc vote...
, until 1674.
In 1662 he was appointed private secretary to Queen Catherine of Braganza
Catherine of Braganza
Catherine of Braganza was a Portuguese infanta and queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles II.She married the king in 1662...
, whose lord chamberlain he became in July 1665. John Evelyn
John Evelyn
John Evelyn was an English writer, gardener and diarist.Evelyn's diaries or Memoirs are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and politics of the time John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February...
in 1664 helped him to plant Cornbury Park
Cornbury Park
Cornbury Park was a former Royal estate used for hunting. It is located near the Wychwood forest in Oxfordshire. A two story, eleven bay 17th century house stands in the grounds.-History:...
. He spoke on behalf of his father on his impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
in 1667; and after his fall Lord Cornbury became an opponent of the court party and the Cabal Ministry
Cabal Ministry
The Cabal Ministry refers to a group of high councillers of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1668 to circa 1674.The term "Cabal" has a double meaning in this context. It refers to the fact that, for perhaps the first time in English history, effective power in a royal council...
. He attacked Buckingham
George 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 Arlington
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington KG, PC was an English statesman.- Background and early life :He was the son of Sir John Bennet of Dawley, Middlesex, and of Dorothy Crofts. He was the younger brother of John Bennet, 1st Baron Ossulston; his sister was Elizabeth Bennet who married Robert Kerr,...
. On his father's death in 1674 he succeeded to the earldom of Clarendon. In 1680, the influence of his brother-in-law James, Duke of York made him a privy councillor. Around the same time he was named keeper of Denmark House and treasurer and receiver-general of the queen's revenues. At this time, and often, he had money troubles.
The friendship of the Duke of York led to his inclusion with his brother Lawrence in the group whom the Commons early in January 1681 told the king were persons inclined to popery. By now a court loyalist, he was in a position to visit in the Tower of London
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...
both Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex
Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex
Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex PC , whose surname is sometimes spelled Capel, was an English statesman.-Early life:...
(brother to his first wife) in 1683, and in the next reign the Duke of Monmouth, and to plead the cause of Alice Lisle
Alice Lisle
Lady Alice Lisle , commonly known as Dame Alicia Lisle or Dame Alice Lyle, was a landed lady of the English county of Hampshire, who was executed for harbouring fugitives after the defeat of the Monmouth Rebellion at the Battle of Sedgemoor.-Family:Dame Alice was a daughter of Sir White Beconshaw...
when she had been sentenced by Judge George Jeffreys
George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys
George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem, PC , also known as "The Hanging Judge", was an English judge. He became notable during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor .- Early years and education :Jeffreys was born at the family estate of Acton Hall, near Wrexham,...
.
Under James II
In 1685, Henry's brother-in-law, King James IIJames 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...
, appointed him 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...
. A few months later, the office was put into commission, and he was made Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
In Ireland
Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell had been summoned to London from the command of the military forces in Ireland about the date when Clarendon set out for Dublin (December 1685). On 9 January 1686 the new Lord-Lieutenant arrived in Dublin. He found his authority overshadowed by that of the absent commander-in-chief. Shortly Clarendon was told by Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of SunderlandRobert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland
Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland KG, PC was an English statesman and nobleman.-Life:Born in Paris, son of Henry Spencer, 1st Earl of Sunderland, Spencer inherited his father's peerage dignities at the age of three, becoming Baron Spencer of Wormleighton and Earl of Sunderland...
of the king's intention to introduce Roman Catholics into the Irish judicial and administrative system, as well as into the army. Clarendon warned bishops and preachers against offending Catholic feeling, and admitted Catholics as councillors and as officers of the army; and he urged their admission into town corporations. He made half-hearted protests to the king. In June 1686 Tyrconnel returned with full powers as commander-in-chief; Clarendon clung to his office.
Tyrconnell transformed the army; and in August 1686 he visited England to obtain the king's permission for legislation to replace the Act of Settlement 1662
Act of Settlement 1662
The Act of Settlement 1662 passed by the Irish Parliament in Dublin. It was a partial reversal of the Cromwellian Act of Settlement 1652, which punished Irish Catholics and Royalists for fighting against the English Parliament in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms by the wholesale confiscation of their...
. Clarendon sent many protests to both king and queen during his rival's absence; but as his brother Lawrence (now Earl of Rochester) saw his influence dwindle, he came to the conclusion that no hope of retaining his post in Ireland remained except through the queen. About three weeks after the dismissal of Rochester (8 January 1687), he received his letter of recall from Sunderland. Tyrconnell, who took Clarendon's place had a final interview with him on 8 February. On 21 February Clarendon landed at Neston in Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, carrying with him the account books of the stores.
Loss of office
Henry and his brother, the Earl of Rochester, had fallen from the king's favour and were dismissed from office. The Privy Seal was given on 16 March 1687 to a Catholic, Henry Arundell, 3rd Baron Arundell of WardourHenry Arundell, 3rd Baron Arundell of Wardour
Henry Arundell, 3rd Baron Arundell of Wardour, PC was a Peer of England during the 17th century, and the most famous of the Lords Arundell of Wardour. He served as Lord Privy Seal and Lord High Steward, and was appointed to the Privy Council...
, and Clarendon withdrew for a while into private life. He had a marriage project of his eldest son, now Lord Cornbury
Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon
Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon , styled Viscount Cornbury between 1674 and 1709, was Governor of New York and New Jersey between 1701 and 1708, and is perhaps best known for the claims of his cross-dressing while in office.-Career:Born The Hon...
, and money to raise for a settlement on the encumbered family estates. He engaged in speculations, ranging from the digging for coal in Windsor forest to the traffic of Scotch pedlars. A pension was conferred on him by James II about the beginning of 1688.
He advised the bishops in the Tower of London
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...
concerning their bail, and was asked by Jeffreys to use his good offices with William Sancroft
William Sancroft
William Sancroft was the 79th Archbishop of Canterbury.- Life :Sancroft was born at Ufford Hall in Fressingfield, Suffolk, son of Francis Sandcroft and Margaret Sandcroft née Butcher...
. The Queen, on whose council he had been placed in 1681, sought him out. On 24 September 1688, the day after her friendly reception of him, Clarendon found the king himself, in view of the Dutch preparations for invasion, anxious to 'see what the Church of England men will do.' He became more resolute, and on 22 October, at the council summoned by the king to hear his declaration concerning the birth of the Prince of Wales
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England...
, declined to sit by the side of Father Edward Petre, and asked to attend as a peer only.
Nine days after the landing of 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...
Lord Cornbury deserted from the King to him (14 November), a turning point; and very difficult for Clarendon. (Mary, wife of William, was Henry's niece.) In the council of peers called by the King on his return to discuss the question of summoning a free parliament (27 November) Clarendon argued against the royal policy; and on 1 December he set out for Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
to make his peace with William. On 3 December he had an interview at Berwick, near Hindon, Wiltshire
Hindon, Wiltshire
Hindon is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about west of Salisbury and south of Warminster. It is in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Hindon was a market town but is now a village...
, and offered his support. He was present at the Hungerford
Hungerford
Hungerford is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, 9 miles west of Newbury. It covers an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 5,559 .- Geography :...
conference on 8 December, and followed the advance of the prince as far as Henley
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
, where, on 13 December he obtained leave of absence. By the prince's desire he waited on him again at Windsor on 16 December, and presented to him his brother Rochester. It was at the conference held at Windsor that Clarendon was said to have suggested the confinement of King James to the Tower; while, according to Gilbert 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...
he proposed his relegation to Breda. He himself declared that, except at the Windsor meeting, he had never been present at any discussion abour what should be done with King James, but that he was against the king being sent away. He was informed by William himself that the King had fled.
Jacobite
Clarendon took a Tory line, rejecting the Whig assumption of that King James had abdicated, and the settlement of the crown upon William and MaryWilliam and Mary
The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the coregency over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, of King William III & II and Queen Mary II...
. He spoke to this effect in parliament, and he refused to take the oaths to the new government. William took it badly that Clarendon had represented him as hostile to the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. Clarendon was in touch with Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston
Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston
Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston PC was an English politician and diplomat. He became a Jacobite conspirator, but his reputation in the Jacobite community suffered when he gave evidence against his co-conspirators in exchange for a pardon.-Origins and education:Graham was born at Netherby,...
, a Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
plotter. On 24 June, Queen Mary ordered her uncle arrested, and next day he was in the Tower of London. There he stayed, not specially well treated though with his wife for a time, until 15 August. After his liberation, the plotting resumed. When Lord Preston, 31 December 1690, was arrested on the Thames River, the letters found upon him included one from Clarendon to King James. Preston named Clarendon among his accomplices; Clarendon, who from 4 January 1691, after being examined before the cabinet council, had been once more consigned to the Tower, remained there for several months. In July he was allowed into the country under care of his warder; and his release on bail soon followed.
Later life
The remainder of Clarendon's life was passed in tranquillity at his residences in the country. Cornbury was in 1694, owing to money difficulties, denuded of many of the pictures collected by his father, and of at least a great part of its library; and in 1697, or shortly before, was sold by Clarendon to Rochester, though to spare his pride the sale was kept a secret till his death. The publication (1702-1704) of the first edition, in three volumes, of the History of the Rebellion by first Earl, was mostly the work of Rochester; but Clarendon took an interest, and in 1704 he presented John Evelyn with the three printed volumes.Clarendon died on 31 October 1709. His Diary (1687-1690) and Correspondence, with the letters of his younger brother Rochester, first appeared in 1828; it was edited by Samuel Weller Singer
Samuel Weller Singer
Samuel Weller Singer was an author and scholar on the work of William Shakespeare. He is also now remembered as a pioneer historian of card games.-Life:...
from manuscripts of William Upcott
William Upcott
-Life:Born in Oxfordshire, he was the illegitimate son of Ozias Humphry by Delly Wickens, daughter of an Oxford shopkeeper, called Upcott from the maiden name of Humphry's mother. His father bequeathed to him his miniatures, pictures, drawings, and engravings, as well as correspondence with many...
. He had a fine collection of medals, and was author of the History and Antiquities of the Cathedral Church at Winchester, continued by Samuel Gale
Samuel Gale
Samuel Gale was an English antiquary, a founder of the Society of Antiquaries of London.-Life:The youngest son of Thomas Gale, dean of York, and brother of Roger Gale, he was born in the parish of St Faith's, London, on 17 December 1682. He was baptised on 20 December, Samuel Pepys being one of...
, London, 1715.
Legacy
Clarendon County, South Carolina and Hyde County, North CarolinaHyde County, North Carolina
-National protected areas:* Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge * Cape Hatteras National Seashore * Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge* Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge * Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:...
are named after him.