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John Maynard (MP)
Encyclopedia
Sir John Maynard KS (1602 – 9 October 1690) was an English lawyer and politician, prominent under the reigns of Charles I
, the Commonwealth
, Charles II
, James II
and William III
.
, barrister
, by Honora, daughter of Arthur Arscott of Tetcott, Devon
, was born at the Abbey House, Tavistock, in 1602. His name appears in the matriculation
register of Exeter College, Oxford
, under date 26 April 1621, which clashes unaccountably with the date of his admission to the degree of B.A.
on 25 April 1621, given in the University Register of Degrees.
; he was called to the Bar in November 1626, and was elected a bencher
in 1648. A pupil of William Noy
, afterwards attorney-general, a Devonian, and born in the law, he rapidly acquired a large practice, both on the Western circuit
and at Westminster; he argued a reported case in the King's Bench
in 1628 and was appointed Recorder of Plymouth
in August 1640.
in both the Short Parliament
of 1640 and the Long Parliament
, and from the first took an active part in the business of the house. In December 1640 he was placed on the committee of scrutiny into the conduct of lords-lieutenant
of counties, and on that for the discovery of the "prime promoters" of the new "canons ecclesiastical" passed in the recent irregular session of convocation
. He was also one of the framers of the articles upon which Strafford
was impeached
, and one of the principal speakers at the trial. He threw himself with great zeal into the affair, and on the passing of the bill of attainder
said joyfully to Sir John Bramston
, "Now we have done our work. If we could not have effected this we could have done nothing". A strong Presbyterian, he subscribed and administered to the house the protestation
of 3 May 1641 in defence of the Protestant religion, and drafted the bill making subscription thereto obligatory on all subjects.
In the committee, which sat at Guildhall
after the adjournment of the House of Commons
which followed the king's
attempt to arrest the five members (4 January 1641/2), he made an eloquent speech in defence of parliamentary privilege
. In the following May he accepted a deputy-lieutenancy of militia under the parliament, and on 12 June 1643 was nominated a member of the Westminster Assembly of Divines. He took the covenant
on 25 September following, and was one of the managers of the impeachment of William Laud
in January–March 1643/4. With his friend Bulstrode Whitelocke
, Maynard attended, by Essex's
invitation, a meeting of the anti-Cromwellian
faction, held at Essex House
in December 1644, to discuss the expediency of taking public action against Cromwell as an ‘incendiary.' The idea, which seems to have originated with the Lord Chancellor of Scotland
Loudon
, met with no favour from the English lawyers, and was in consequence abandoned.
A curious testimony to Maynard's reputation at this time is afforded by a grant made in his favour by parliament in October 1645 of the books and manuscripts of the late Lord Chief Justice Bankes
, with liberty to seize them wherever he might find them. In the House of Commons he was heard with the profoundest respect, while he advocated the abolition of feudal wardships
and other salutary legal reforms. He also prospered mightily in his profession, making in the course of the summer circuit of 1647 the unprecedentedly large sum of £700. As a politician he was a strict constitutionalist, protested against the first steps taken towards the deposition of the king
, and on the adoption of that policy withdrew from the house as no longer a lawful assembly (November 1648).
Nevertheless, on the establishment of the Commonwealth
he did not scruple to take the engagement, and held a government brief at the trial of Major Faulconer for perjury in May 1653. Assigned by order of court to advise John Lilburne
on his second trial in July 1653, Maynard at first feigned sickness. A repetition of the order, however, elicited from him some exceptions to the indictment which confounded the court and secured Lilburne's acquittal by the jury. The jury were afterwards interrogated by the council of state
as to the grounds of their verdict, but refused to disclose them, and Maynard thus escaped censure, and on 9 February 1653/4 was called to the degree of serjeant-at-law
.
In the following year his professional duty brought him into temporary collision with the government. One Cony, a city merchant, had been arrested by order of the council of state for non-payment of taxes, and Maynard, with Serjeants Thomas Twysden and Wadham Wyndham
, moved on his behalf in the upper bench for a habeas corpus
. Their argument on the return, 18 May 1655, amounted in effect to a direct attack on the government as a usurpation, and all three were forthwith, by order of Cromwell
, committed to the Tower of London
; they were released on making submission (25 May).
tax of 1657 payable by Devon
. Thomas Carlyle
is in error in stating that he was a member of Cromwell's House of Lords
. He sat in the House of Commons for Plymouth
during the Second Protectorate Parliament
, and on the debates on the designation to be given to the 'other' house
argued strongly for the revival of the old name (4 February 1657/8). Burnet
states, and it is extremely probable, that he was also in favour of the revival of monarchy. On 1 May 1658 he was appointed Protector's
serjeant, in which capacity he followed the Protector's bier on the ensuing 23 November. On the accession of Richard Cromwell
he was made solicitor-general
, and in parliament, where he sat for Newtown
, Isle of Wight
, lent the whole weight of his authority as a constitutional lawyer to prop up the Protector's tottering government.
when in 1658 he helped to found The Maynard School
and Hele's School
in the same year and he was also involved with the Grammar school
at Totnes
which like Maynard was endowed with funds under the will of Elizeeus Hele
Esq who left considerable property for charitable purposes (Maynard was one of the trustees of his will). The will was the subject of a court case held before Sir Edward Rhodes. In this case the Captain Edmond Lister petitioned parliament on behalf of his wife Joanne. The basis of the petition was that all the money had been left to charity although at the time the will was written Joanne was not born. Rhodes found that any monies left over from the charitable purposes should be given to Joanne Lister although the chaitiable purposes should continue.
, Maynard took no part in parliamentary business until 21 February 1659/60, when he was placed on the committee for drafting the bill to constitute the new council of state. He reported the bill the same day, and was himself voted a member of the council on the 23rd. He sat for Bere Alston
, Devon
, in the Convention Parliament, was one of the first Serjeants called at the Restoration
(22 June 1660), and soon afterwards (9 November) was advanced to the rank of king's serjeant and knighted (16 November). With his brother-serjeant, Sir John Glynne, he rode in the coronation procession, on 23 April 1661, behind the attorney and solicitor-general, much to the disgust of Samuel Pepys
, who regarded him as a turncoat.
in Trinity term 1662. He represented Bere Alston in the Pensionary Parliament
, 1661–79, and sat for Plymouth during the rest of Charles II's
reign. He was the principal manager of the abortive impeachment of Lord Mordaunt
in 1666–7, and constituted himself counsel for the defence in the proceedings against Lord Clarendon
in the following October. He appeared for the House of Lords in the king's bench on the return to Lord Shaftesbury's habeas corpus on 29 June 1677, and sustained its sufficiency on the ground that, though a general warrant for commitment to prison would be invalid if issued by any court but the House of Lords, the king's bench had no jurisdiction to declare it so when issued by that house. In 1678 he made a spirited but ineffectual attempt to secure the conviction of Lord Cornwallis
for the brutal murder of a boy in St. James's Park. The severe censure which Lord Campbell
passed upon him for his conduct of this case is based upon an entire misapprehension of the facts.
In the debate on Lord Danby's
impeachment (December 1678) Maynard showed a regrettable disposition to strain the Treason Act 1351
(25 Edward III) to his disadvantage, maintaining that its scope might be enlarged by retrospective legislation, which caused Swift
to denounce him, in a note to Burnet's Own Time, as 'a knave or a fool for all his law.' On constitutional questions he steered as a rule a wary and somewhat ambiguous course, professing equal solicitude for the royal prerogative
and the power and privileges of parliament, acknowledging the existence of a dispensing power, without either defining its limits or admitting that it had none (10 February 1672/3), at one time resisting the king's attempts to adjourn parliament by message from the speaker's chair (February 1677/8), and at another counselling acquiescence in his arbitrary rejection of a duly elected speaker (10–11 March 1678/1679).
Maynard opened the case against Edward Colman
on 27 November 1678, and took part in most of the prosecutions arising out of the supposed popish plot
, including the impeachment of Lord Stafford
, in December 1680. Lord Campbell's interesting story of his slipping away to circuit without leave during the debate on the Exclusion Bill in the preceding November, 'upon which his son was instructed to inform him that if he did not return forthwith he should be sent for in custody, he being treated thus tenderly in respect of his having been long the Father of the House
’ is a sheer fabrication.
Maynard favoured the impeachment of Edward Fitzharris
, declared its rejection by the House of Lords a breach of privilege (26 March 1681), and took part in the subsequent prosecution in the king's bench. In the action for false imprisonment during his mayoralty brought by Sir William Pritchard against ex-sheriff Papillon on 6 November 1684, an incident in the attack made by the court upon the liberties of the city, Maynard conducted the defence with eminent skill and zeal, though a Jeffreys
-ridden jury found a verdict for the plaintiff with £10,000 damages. Summoned to give evidence on behalf of Oates
on his trial for perjury in May 1685, and questioned concerning the impeachment of Lord Stafford, Maynard pleaded total inability to swear to his memory in regard to that matter, and was dismissed by Jeffreys with a sneer at his supposed failing powers.
Maynard represented Bere Alston
in parliament. He opposed so much of the abortive bill for the preservation of the king's person as proposed to make it high treason to assert by word of mouth the legitimacy of the Duke of Monmouth
(June), and likewise the extraordinary supply for the creation of a standing army demanded by the king after the suppression of the western rebellion
. Though not, it would seem, a privy councilor, he was summoned to the council held to establish the birth of the Prince of Wales
on 22 October 1688, and also to the meeting of the lords spiritual and temporal held on 22 December, to confer on the emergency presented by the flight of the king
, and as doyen of the bar was presented to the Prince of Orange
on his arrival in London. William congratulated him on having outlived so many rivals; Maynard replied : ‘And I had like to have outlived the law itself had not your highness come over.'
In the convention which met on 22 January 1688/9, Maynard sat for Plymouth, and in the debate of the 28th on the state of the nation, and the conference with the lords which followed on 2 February, argued that James had vacated the throne by his Roman Catholicism, and attempted subversion of the constitution, and that as during his life he could have no heir, the choice lay between an alteration of the succession and a regency of indefinite duration. He supported the bill for declaring the convention a parliament
on the very frank ground that a dissolution, owing to the ferment among the clergy, would mean the triumph of the tory party. On 5 March he was sworn lord commissioner
of the great seal, jointly with Sir Anthony Keck and Sir William Rawlinson. This office did not exclude him from the House of Commons, and he continued to take an active part in its proceedings. On 16 March he moved for leave to introduce a bill for disarming papists; and while professing perfect confidence in the queen
, he energetically opposed the bill for vesting the regency in her during William's absence from the realm, the passing of which into law was closely followed by his retirement or removal from office, his last appearance in court being on 14 May 1690.
quaintly wrote before the Restoration, seeming ‘sick with long longing for his sitting thereon.' Roger North
admits that he was 'the best old book lawyer of his time.' Clarendon speaks of his 'eminent parts,' ‘great learning,' and 'signal reputation.' Anthony A Wood praises his 'great reading and knowledge in the more profound and perplexed parts of the law,' and his devotion to ‘his mother the university of Oxon.' As a politician, his moderation and consistency were generally recognised, though for his part in the impeachments of Strafford and Stafford he was savagely attacked by Roscommon
in his Ghost of the late House of Commons (1680–1). Though hardly eloquent, Maynard was a singularly facile and fluent speaker (Roscommon sneers at ‘his accumulative hackney tongue' and could sometimes be crushing in retort. Jeffreys once taxing him in open court with having forgotten his law, he is said to have replied : 'In that case I must have forgotten a great deal more than your lordship ever knew.' He humorously defined advocacy as ars bablativa.
To Maynard we owe the unique edition of the reports of Richard de Winchedon, being the Year Books
of Edward II
, covering substantially the entire reign to Trinity term 1326, together with excerpts from the records of Edward I
, London (1678–9).
Maynard amassed a large fortune, bought the manor of Gunnersbury
, and there in 1663 built from designs by Inigo Jones
or his pupil Webb a palace, Gunnersbury House, (afterwards the residence of the Princess Amelia
, daughter of George II
). He died there on 9 October 1690, his body lying in state until the 25th, when it was interred with great pomp in Ealing Church.
, Somerset
, buried in Baling Church, 4 January 1654/5; secondly, Jane, daughter of Cheney Selhurst of Tenterden
, and relict of Edward Austen, buried in Baling Church in 1668; thirdly, Margaret, daughter of Edward, Lord Gorges
, and relict (1) of Sir Thomas Fleming
of North Stoneham
, Hampshire
; (2) of Sir Francis Prujean, physician to the king; fourthly, Mary, daughter of Ambrose Upton, canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
, and relict of Sir Charles Vermuyden, M.D. who survived him and remarried Henry Howard, 5th Earl of Suffolk
.
Except by his first wife Maynard had no issue; by her he had one son, Joseph, and four daughters, Elizabeth, Honora, Johanna, and Martha. His eldest daughter married Sir Duncumbe Colchester of Westbury, Gloucestershire; the second, Edward Nosworthy of Devon
; the third, Thomas Legh of Adlington Hall, Cheshire; and the fourth, Sir Edward Gresham, Bt. Maynard's son, Joseph, had two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary. The former married Sir Henry Hobart, 4th Baronet
, and was the mother of Henrietta, the celebrated Mrs. Howard
, afterwards Countess of Suffolk. The latter married Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford
. Maynard survived all his children, except his youngest daughter, and devised his estates in trust for his granddaughters and their issue in tail
by a will so obscure that to settle the disputes to which it gave rise a private act of parliament was passed in 1694, notwithstanding which it was made the subject of litigation in 1709.
Portraits are in the National Portrait Gallery and at Exeter College, Oxford
.
One of Maynard's opinions was printed in London's Liberty. For his speeches at Strafford's trial see John Rushworth
's Historical Collections. For other of his speeches see William Cobbett
's State Trials, Parliamentary History, and Somers Tracts.
He must be carefully distinguished from his namesake, Sir John Maynard
, K.B. (1592–1658), with whom he has been confounded by Lord Campbell.
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...
, 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...
, 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...
, James II
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...
and William III
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...
.
Origins and education
Maynard, the son of Alexander Maynard of Tavistock and the Middle TempleMiddle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
, barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, by Honora, daughter of Arthur Arscott of Tetcott, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, was born at the Abbey House, Tavistock, in 1602. His name appears in the matriculation
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
register of Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
, under date 26 April 1621, which clashes unaccountably with the date of his admission to the degree of B.A.
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...
on 25 April 1621, given in the University Register of Degrees.
Barrister
In 1619 he entered the Middle TempleMiddle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
; he was called to the Bar in November 1626, and was elected a bencher
Bencher
A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can be elected while still a barrister , in recognition of the contribution that the barrister has made to the life of the Inn or to the law...
in 1648. A pupil of William Noy
William Noy
William Noy was a noted British jurist.He was born on the family estate of Pendrea in St Buryan, Cornwall. He left Exeter College, Oxford without taking a degree, and entered Lincoln's Inn in 1594. From 1603 until his death he was elected, with one exception, to each parliament, sitting...
, afterwards attorney-general, a Devonian, and born in the law, he rapidly acquired a large practice, both on the Western circuit
Circuit court
Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law jurisdictions.-History:King Henry II instituted the custom of having judges ride around the countryside each year to hear appeals, rather than forcing everyone to bring their appeals to London...
and at Westminster; he argued a reported case in the King's Bench
King's Bench
The Queen's Bench is the superior court in a number of jurisdictions within some of the Commonwealth realms...
in 1628 and was appointed Recorder of Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
in August 1640.
Parliamentarian
He represented TotnesTotnes (UK Parliament constituency)
Totnes is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament , using the first-past-the-post voting system....
in both the Short Parliament
Short Parliament
The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....
of 1640 and the Long Parliament
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...
, and from the first took an active part in the business of the house. In December 1640 he was placed on the committee of scrutiny into the conduct of lords-lieutenant
Lord Lieutenant
The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the British monarch's personal representatives in the United Kingdom, usually in a county or similar circumscription, with varying tasks throughout history. Usually a retired local notable, senior military officer, peer or business person is given the post...
of counties, and on that for the discovery of the "prime promoters" of the new "canons ecclesiastical" passed in the recent irregular session of convocation
Convocation of the English Clergy
The Convocation of the English Clergy is a synodical assembly of the Church of England consisting of bishops and clergy.- Background and introduction :...
. He was also one of the framers of the articles upon which Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1632 to 1639 he instituted a harsh rule as Lord Deputy of Ireland...
was impeached
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....
, and one of the principal speakers at the trial. He threw himself with great zeal into the affair, and on the passing of the bill of attainder
Bill of attainder
A bill of attainder is an act of a legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a judicial trial.-English law:...
said joyfully to Sir John Bramston
John Bramston, the younger
Sir John Bramston, the younger , was an English lawyer. The son of Sir John Bramston, the elder, he was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, and called to bar at Middle Temple in 1635. In 1660 he was elected to the Convention Parliament for the county of Essex and again in the Cavalier Parliament of...
, "Now we have done our work. If we could not have effected this we could have done nothing". A strong Presbyterian, he subscribed and administered to the house the protestation
The Protestation
The Protestation was an attempt to avert the English Civil War. In July 1641, Parliament passed a bill requiring those over the age of 18 to sign the Protestation, an oath of allegiance to King Charles I and the Church of England it had drawn up on 3 May of that year...
of 3 May 1641 in defence of the Protestant religion, and drafted the bill making subscription thereto obligatory on all subjects.
In the committee, which sat at Guildhall
Guildhall, London
The Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. It has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation...
after the adjournment of 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...
which followed the king's
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...
attempt to arrest the five members (4 January 1641/2), he made an eloquent speech in defence of parliamentary privilege
Parliamentary privilege
Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made related to one's duties as a legislator. It is common in countries whose constitutions are...
. In the following May he accepted a deputy-lieutenancy of militia under the parliament, and on 12 June 1643 was nominated a member of the Westminster Assembly of Divines. He took the covenant
Solemn League and Covenant
The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians. It was agreed to in 1643, during the First English Civil War....
on 25 September following, and was one of the managers of the impeachment of William Laud
William Laud
William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
in January–March 1643/4. With his friend Bulstrode Whitelocke
Bulstrode Whitelocke
Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke was an English lawyer, writer, parliamentarian and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England.- Biography :...
, Maynard attended, by Essex's
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...
invitation, a meeting of the anti-Cromwellian
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....
faction, held at Essex House
Essex House (London)
Essex House was a house in London, built around 1575 for Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and originally called Leicester House.The property occupied the site where the Outer Temple, part of the London headquarters of the Knights Templar, had previously stood , and was immediately adjacent to the...
in December 1644, to discuss the expediency of taking public action against Cromwell as an ‘incendiary.' The idea, which seems to have originated with the Lord Chancellor of Scotland
Lord Chancellor of Scotland
The Lord Chancellor of Scotland was a Great Officer of State in pre-Union Scotland.Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower status with the title of Keeper of the Great Seal...
Loudon
John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun
John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun was a Scottish politician. He was the eldest son of James Campbell of LawersJohn Campbell married Margaret, the daughter of George Campbell around 1620. Margaret was heir to her grandfather Hugh Campbell, first Lord Loudoun, who resigned his peerage in John's...
, met with no favour from the English lawyers, and was in consequence abandoned.
A curious testimony to Maynard's reputation at this time is afforded by a grant made in his favour by parliament in October 1645 of the books and manuscripts of the late Lord Chief Justice Bankes
John Bankes
Sir John Bankes was Attorney General and Chief Justice to King Charles I of England during the English Civil War. He was one of the most prominent members of the Bankes family of Dorset...
, with liberty to seize them wherever he might find them. In the House of Commons he was heard with the profoundest respect, while he advocated the abolition of feudal wardships
Ward (law)
In law, a ward is someone placed under the protection of a legal guardian. A court may take responsibility for the legal protection of an individual, usually either a child or incapacitated person, in which case the ward is known as a ward of the court, or a ward of the state, in the United States,...
and other salutary legal reforms. He also prospered mightily in his profession, making in the course of the summer circuit of 1647 the unprecedentedly large sum of £700. As a politician he was a strict constitutionalist, protested against the first steps taken towards the deposition of the king
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...
, and on the adoption of that policy withdrew from the house as no longer a lawful assembly (November 1648).
State trials under 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...
he did not scruple to take the engagement, and held a government brief at the trial of Major Faulconer for perjury in May 1653. Assigned by order of court to advise John Lilburne
John Lilburne
John Lilburne , also known as Freeborn John, was an English political Leveller before, during and after English Civil Wars 1642-1650. He coined the term "freeborn rights", defining them as rights with which every human being is born, as opposed to rights bestowed by government or human law...
on his second trial in July 1653, Maynard at first feigned sickness. A repetition of the order, however, elicited from him some exceptions to the indictment which confounded the court and secured Lilburne's acquittal by the jury. The jury were afterwards interrogated by 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....
as to the grounds of their verdict, but refused to disclose them, and Maynard thus escaped censure, and on 9 February 1653/4 was called to the degree of serjeant-at-law
Serjeant-at-law
The Serjeants-at-Law was an order of barristers at the English bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law , or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writs dating to 1300 which identify them as descended from figures in France prior to the Norman Conquest...
.
In the following year his professional duty brought him into temporary collision with the government. One Cony, a city merchant, had been arrested by order of the council of state for non-payment of taxes, and Maynard, with Serjeants Thomas Twysden and Wadham Wyndham
Wadham Wyndham
Sir Wadham Wyndham SL , English judge, was born at Orchard Wyndham, Somerset, the ninth son of Sir John Wyndham of Orchard Wyndham, and his wife, Joan, daughter of Sir Henry Portman...
, moved on his behalf in the upper bench for a habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
. Their argument on the return, 18 May 1655, amounted in effect to a direct attack on the government as a usurpation, and all three were forthwith, by order 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....
, committed to 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...
; they were released on making submission (25 May).
Continuing political preferment
Maynard was among the commissioners appointed to collect the quota of the Spanish warAnglo-Spanish War (1654)
The Anglo-Spanish War was a conflict between the English Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell and Spain, between 1654 and 1660. It was caused by commercial rivalry. Each side attacked the other's commercial and colonial interests in various ways such as privateering and naval expeditions. In 1655, an...
tax of 1657 payable by Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...
is in error in stating that he was a member of Cromwell's 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 sat in the House of Commons for Plymouth
Plymouth (UK Parliament constituency)
Plymouth was a parliamentary borough in Devon, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in 1298 and again from 1442 until 1918, when the borough was merged with the neighbouring Devonport and the combined area divided into three single-member constituencies.-In the...
during the Second Protectorate Parliament
Second Protectorate Parliament
The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...
, and on the debates on the designation to be given to the 'other' house
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....
argued strongly for the revival of the old name (4 February 1657/8). 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...
states, and it is extremely probable, that he was also in favour of the revival of monarchy. On 1 May 1658 he was appointed Protector's
Lord Protector
Lord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of state at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church...
serjeant, in which capacity he followed the Protector's bier on the ensuing 23 November. On the accession of 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...
he was made solicitor-general
Solicitor General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, often known as the Solicitor General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to advise the Crown and Cabinet on the law...
, and in parliament, where he sat for Newtown
Newtown (UK Parliament constituency)
Newtown was a parliamentary borough located in Newtown on the Isle of Wight, which was represented in the House of Commons of England then 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...
, Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, lent the whole weight of his authority as a constitutional lawyer to prop up the Protector's tottering government.
Education
Maynard was involved in the founding of a school for girl's in ExeterExeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
when in 1658 he helped to found The Maynard School
The Maynard School
The Maynard School is an independent and selective day school for girls aged 7–18 in the city of Exeter in Devon. It is one of the leading girls day schools in the UK, with an excellent academic reputation in both public exams and university entrance. Currently, there are approximately 420 day...
and Hele's School
Hele's School, Exeter
Hele's School was a boys' grammar school, and latterly a comprehensive school, in the city of Exeter, Devon, England.- Elize Hele’s bequest :...
in the same year and he was also involved with the Grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
at Totnes
Totnes
Totnes is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
which like Maynard was endowed with funds under the will of Elizeeus Hele
Elize Hele
Elize Hele or Elizeus Hele was an English lawyer and philanthropist. In 1632, Hele transferred his lands into a trust that was intended for "pious uses". The trustees included his wife, John Hele and a number of trusted friends...
Esq who left considerable property for charitable purposes (Maynard was one of the trustees of his will). The will was the subject of a court case held before Sir Edward Rhodes. In this case the Captain Edmond Lister petitioned parliament on behalf of his wife Joanne. The basis of the petition was that all the money had been left to charity although at the time the will was written Joanne was not born. Rhodes found that any monies left over from the charitable purposes should be given to Joanne Lister although the chaitiable purposes should continue.
The Restoration
On Richard's abdication and the resuscitation of the Rump ParliamentRump 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....
, Maynard took no part in parliamentary business until 21 February 1659/60, when he was placed on the committee for drafting the bill to constitute the new council of state. He reported the bill the same day, and was himself voted a member of the council on the 23rd. He sat for Bere Alston
Bere Alston (UK Parliament constituency)
Bere Alston or Beeralston was a parliamentary borough in Devon, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1584 until 1832, when the constituency was abolished by the Great Reform Act as a rotten borough.-History:...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, in the Convention Parliament, was one of the first Serjeants called at 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...
(22 June 1660), and soon afterwards (9 November) was advanced to the rank of king's serjeant and knighted (16 November). With his brother-serjeant, Sir John Glynne, he rode in the coronation procession, on 23 April 1661, behind the attorney and solicitor-general, much to the disgust of Samuel 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...
, who regarded him as a turncoat.
The reign of Charles II
As king's serjeant, Maynard appeared for the crown at some of the state trials with which the new reign was inaugurated, among others that of Sir Henry VaneHenry Vane the Younger
Sir Henry Vane , son of Henry Vane the Elder , was an English politician, statesman, and colonial governor...
in Trinity term 1662. He represented Bere Alston in the Pensionary Parliament
Cavalier Parliament
The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter century reign of Charles II of England...
, 1661–79, and sat for Plymouth during the rest of Charles II's
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...
reign. He was the principal manager of the abortive impeachment of Lord Mordaunt
John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt
John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt was an English royalist.He was born in Lowick, the second son of John Mordaunt, 1st Earl of Peterborough and Elizabeth Howard John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt (18 June 1626 – 5 June 1675) was an English royalist.He was born in Lowick, the second son of John...
in 1666–7, and constituted himself counsel for the defence in the proceedings against Lord Clarendon
Edward 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:...
in the following October. He appeared for the House of Lords in the king's bench on the return to Lord Shaftesbury's habeas corpus on 29 June 1677, and sustained its sufficiency on the ground that, though a general warrant for commitment to prison would be invalid if issued by any court but the House of Lords, the king's bench had no jurisdiction to declare it so when issued by that house. In 1678 he made a spirited but ineffectual attempt to secure the conviction of Lord Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis PC was a British politician who served as First Lord of the Admiralty. He succeeded his father as Baron Cornwallis in 1673...
for the brutal murder of a boy in St. James's Park. The severe censure which Lord Campbell
John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell
John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell PC, KC was a British Liberal politician, lawyer, and man of letters.-Background and education:...
passed upon him for his conduct of this case is based upon an entire misapprehension of the facts.
In the debate on Lord Danby's
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...
impeachment (December 1678) Maynard showed a regrettable disposition to strain the Treason Act 1351
Treason Act 1351
The Treason Act 1351 is an Act of the Parliament of England which codified and curtailed the common law offence of treason. No new offences were created by the statute. It is one of the earliest English statutes still in force, although it has been very significantly amended. It was extended to...
(25 Edward III) to his disadvantage, maintaining that its scope might be enlarged by retrospective legislation, which caused Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
to denounce him, in a note to Burnet's Own Time, as 'a knave or a fool for all his law.' On constitutional questions he steered as a rule a wary and somewhat ambiguous course, professing equal solicitude for the royal prerogative
Royal Prerogative
The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the sovereign alone. It is the means by which some of the executive powers of government, possessed by and...
and the power and privileges of parliament, acknowledging the existence of a dispensing power, without either defining its limits or admitting that it had none (10 February 1672/3), at one time resisting the king's attempts to adjourn parliament by message from the speaker's chair (February 1677/8), and at another counselling acquiescence in his arbitrary rejection of a duly elected speaker (10–11 March 1678/1679).
Maynard opened the case against Edward Colman
Edward Colman
Edward Colman or Coleman was an English Catholic courtier under Charles II of England. He was hanged, drawn and quartered on a treason charge, having been implicated by Titus Oates in his false accusations concerning a Popish Plot...
on 27 November 1678, and took part in most of the prosecutions arising out of the supposed popish plot
Popish Plot
The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy concocted by Titus Oates that gripped England, Wales and Scotland in Anti-Catholic hysteria between 1678 and 1681. Oates alleged that there existed an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Charles II, accusations that led to the execution of at...
, including the impeachment 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...
, in December 1680. Lord Campbell's interesting story of his slipping away to circuit without leave during the debate on the Exclusion Bill in the preceding November, 'upon which his son was instructed to inform him that if he did not return forthwith he should be sent for in custody, he being treated thus tenderly in respect of his having been long the Father of the House
Father of the House
Father of the House is a term that has by tradition been unofficially bestowed on certain members of some national legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the term refers to the oldest member, but in others it refers the longest-serving member.The...
’ is a sheer fabrication.
Maynard favoured the impeachment of Edward Fitzharris
Edward Fitzharris
Edward Fitzharris was an Anglo-Irish conspirator. His prosecution at the time of the Popish Plot hoax became a struggle for jurisdiction involving the courts and the two Houses of Parliament.-Life:...
, declared its rejection by the House of Lords a breach of privilege (26 March 1681), and took part in the subsequent prosecution in the king's bench. In the action for false imprisonment during his mayoralty brought by Sir William Pritchard against ex-sheriff Papillon on 6 November 1684, an incident in the attack made by the court upon the liberties of the city, Maynard conducted the defence with eminent skill and zeal, though a 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,...
-ridden jury found a verdict for the plaintiff with £10,000 damages. Summoned to give evidence on behalf of Oates
Titus Oates
Titus Oates was an English perjurer who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II.-Early life:...
on his trial for perjury in May 1685, and questioned concerning the impeachment of Lord Stafford, Maynard pleaded total inability to swear to his memory in regard to that matter, and was dismissed by Jeffreys with a sneer at his supposed failing powers.
The reign of James II
During the reign of 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...
Maynard represented Bere Alston
Bere Alston (UK Parliament constituency)
Bere Alston or Beeralston was a parliamentary borough in Devon, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1584 until 1832, when the constituency was abolished by the Great Reform Act as a rotten borough.-History:...
in parliament. He opposed so much of the abortive bill for the preservation of the king's person as proposed to make it high treason to assert by word of mouth the legitimacy of 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...
(June), and likewise the extraordinary supply for the creation of a standing army demanded by the king after the suppression of the western rebellion
Monmouth Rebellion
The Monmouth Rebellion,The Revolt of the West or The West Country rebellion of 1685, was an attempt to overthrow James II, who had become King of England, King of Scots and King of Ireland at the death of his elder brother Charles II on 6 February 1685. James II was a Roman Catholic, and some...
. Though not, it would seem, a privy councilor, he was summoned to the council held to establish 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...
on 22 October 1688, and also to the meeting of the lords spiritual and temporal held on 22 December, to confer on the emergency presented by the flight of the king
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...
, and as doyen of the bar was presented to the Prince 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...
on his arrival in London. William congratulated him on having outlived so many rivals; Maynard replied : ‘And I had like to have outlived the law itself had not your highness come over.'
The reign of William III
We are at the moment out of the beaten path. If therefore we are determined to move only in that path, we cannot move at all. A man in a revolution resolving to do nothing which is not strictly according to established form resembles a man who has lost himself in the wilderness, and who stands crying "Where is the king's highway? I will walk nowhere but on the king's highway." In a wilderness a man should take the track which will carry him home. In a revolution we must have recourse to the highest law, the safety of the state. Maynard
In the convention which met on 22 January 1688/9, Maynard sat for Plymouth, and in the debate of the 28th on the state of the nation, and the conference with the lords which followed on 2 February, argued that James had vacated the throne by his Roman Catholicism, and attempted subversion of the constitution, and that as during his life he could have no heir, the choice lay between an alteration of the succession and a regency of indefinite duration. He supported the bill for declaring the convention a parliament
Crown and Parliament Recognition Act 1689
The Crown and Parliament Recognition Act 1689 was an Act of the Parliament of England, passed in 1689. It was designed to confirm the succession to the throne of King William III and Queen Mary II of England and to confirm the validity of the laws passed by the Convention Parliament which had been...
on the very frank ground that a dissolution, owing to the ferment among the clergy, would mean the triumph of the tory party. On 5 March he was sworn lord commissioner
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
of the great seal, jointly with Sir Anthony Keck and Sir William Rawlinson. This office did not exclude him from the House of Commons, and he continued to take an active part in its proceedings. On 16 March he moved for leave to introduce a bill for disarming papists; and while professing perfect confidence in the queen
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...
, he energetically opposed the bill for vesting the regency in her during William's absence from the realm, the passing of which into law was closely followed by his retirement or removal from office, his last appearance in court being on 14 May 1690.
Reputation
So brief a tenure of office at so advanced an age afforded Maynard little or no opportunity for the display of high judicial powers. As to his merits, however, all parties were agreed; the bench, as Thomas FullerThomas Fuller
Thomas Fuller was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England, published after his death...
quaintly wrote before the Restoration, seeming ‘sick with long longing for his sitting thereon.' Roger North
Roger North (17th century)
Roger North, KC , English lawyer, biographer, and amateur musician, was the sixth son of t he fourth Baron North....
admits that he was 'the best old book lawyer of his time.' Clarendon speaks of his 'eminent parts,' ‘great learning,' and 'signal reputation.' Anthony A Wood praises his 'great reading and knowledge in the more profound and perplexed parts of the law,' and his devotion to ‘his mother the university of Oxon.' As a politician, his moderation and consistency were generally recognised, though for his part in the impeachments of Strafford and Stafford he was savagely attacked by Roscommon
Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon
Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon , was an English poet.-Background and education:Dillon was born in Ireland about 1630...
in his Ghost of the late House of Commons (1680–1). Though hardly eloquent, Maynard was a singularly facile and fluent speaker (Roscommon sneers at ‘his accumulative hackney tongue' and could sometimes be crushing in retort. Jeffreys once taxing him in open court with having forgotten his law, he is said to have replied : 'In that case I must have forgotten a great deal more than your lordship ever knew.' He humorously defined advocacy as ars bablativa.
To Maynard we owe the unique edition of the reports of Richard de Winchedon, being the Year Books
Year Books
The Year Books are the modern English name that is now typically given to the earliest law reports of England. Substantial numbers of manuscripts circulated during the later medieval period containing reports of pleas heard before the Common Bench. In the sixteenth century versions of this...
of Edward II
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
, covering substantially the entire reign to Trinity term 1326, together with excerpts from the records of Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
, London (1678–9).
Gunnersbury Park
Gunnersbury Park
Gunnersbury Park is a park in the Brentford ward of the London Borough of Hounslow, in west London, England. Purchased for the nation from the Rothschild family, it was opened to the public by Neville Chamberlain, then Minister of Health, on 21 May 1926...
, and there in 1663 built from designs by Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
or his pupil Webb a palace, Gunnersbury House, (afterwards the residence of the Princess Amelia
Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom
Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom was a member of the British Royal Family as the youngest daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom and his queen consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.-Early life:...
, daughter of George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
). He died there on 9 October 1690, his body lying in state until the 25th, when it was interred with great pomp in Ealing Church.
Family and posterity
Maynard married, first, Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew Henley of TauntonTaunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, buried in Baling Church, 4 January 1654/5; secondly, Jane, daughter of Cheney Selhurst of Tenterden
Tenterden
Tenterden is a Cinque Port town in the Ashford District of Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother....
, and relict of Edward Austen, buried in Baling Church in 1668; thirdly, Margaret, daughter of Edward, Lord Gorges
Baron Gorges of Dundalk
Baron Gorges of Dundalk was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 13 July 1620 for Sir Edward Gorges, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a Baronet, of Langford in the County of Wiltshire, in the Baronetage of England on 25 November 1611...
, and relict (1) of Sir Thomas Fleming
Thomas Fleming (judge)
Sir Thomas Fleming was an English member of Parliament and judge, whose most famous case was the trial of Guy Fawkes in relation to the Gunpowder Plot...
of North Stoneham
North Stoneham
North Stoneham is a settlement and ecclesiastical parish in south Hampshire, England. It was formerly an ancient estate and manor. Until the nineteenth century, it was a rural community comprising a number of scattered hamlets, including Middle Stoneham, North End, and Bassett Green, and...
, 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...
; (2) of Sir Francis Prujean, physician to the king; fourthly, Mary, daughter of Ambrose Upton, canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also, uniquely, the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford.-History:...
, and relict of Sir Charles Vermuyden, M.D. who survived him and remarried Henry Howard, 5th Earl of Suffolk
Henry Howard, 5th Earl of Suffolk
Henry Howard, 5th Earl of Suffolk was the youngest son of Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, but inherited the title, because none of his brothers left surviving sons.He married three times:...
.
Except by his first wife Maynard had no issue; by her he had one son, Joseph, and four daughters, Elizabeth, Honora, Johanna, and Martha. His eldest daughter married Sir Duncumbe Colchester of Westbury, Gloucestershire; the second, Edward Nosworthy of Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
; the third, Thomas Legh of Adlington Hall, Cheshire; and the fourth, Sir Edward Gresham, Bt. Maynard's son, Joseph, had two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary. The former married Sir Henry Hobart, 4th Baronet
Sir Henry Hobart, 4th Baronet
Sir Henry Hobart, 4th Baronet was an English Whig politician and baronet.-Background:He was the oldest son of Sir John Hobart, 3rd Baronet and his first wife Mary Hampden, daughter of John Hampden...
, and was the mother of Henrietta, the celebrated Mrs. Howard
Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk
Henrietta Howard was a mistress of King George II of Great Britain.She was the daughter of Sir Henry Hobart, 4th Baronet, a Norfolk landowner who was killed in a duel when Henrietta was aged eight...
, afterwards Countess of Suffolk. The latter married Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford
Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford
Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford PC was a British peer and politician.He was the only son of Thomas, Lord Grey of Groby, and inherited his title from his grandfather....
. Maynard survived all his children, except his youngest daughter, and devised his estates in trust for his granddaughters and their issue in tail
Fee tail
At common law, fee tail or entail is an estate of inheritance in real property which cannot be sold, devised by will, or otherwise alienated by the owner, but which passes by operation of law to the owner's heirs upon his death...
by a will so obscure that to settle the disputes to which it gave rise a private act of parliament was passed in 1694, notwithstanding which it was made the subject of litigation in 1709.
Portraits are in the National Portrait Gallery and at Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
.
One of Maynard's opinions was printed in London's Liberty. For his speeches at Strafford's trial see John Rushworth
John Rushworth
John Rushworth , English historian, was born at Acklington Park in the parish of Warkworth, Northumberland, England. He compiled a series of works called Historical Collections , concerning the period of history covering the English Civil Wars throughout the 17th century.-Background:John Rushworth...
's Historical Collections. For other of his speeches see William Cobbett
William Cobbett
William Cobbett was an English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist, who was born in Farnham, Surrey. He believed that reforming Parliament and abolishing the rotten boroughs would help to end the poverty of farm labourers, and he attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters" relentlessly...
's State Trials, Parliamentary History, and Somers Tracts.
He must be carefully distinguished from his namesake, Sir John Maynard
John Maynard (KB)
Sir John Maynard K.B. was a 17th century English politician.-Origins:Maynard was the second son of Sir Henry Maynard, of Estaines Parva, in Essex, and Susan, the daughter of Thomas Pearson. His elder brother, William, was the first Lord Maynard...
, K.B. (1592–1658), with whom he has been confounded by Lord Campbell.