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John Trevor (speaker)
Encyclopedia
- For other people of the same name, see John TrevorJohn TrevorJohn Trevor may refer to:*John Trevor I, mid-14th century Bishop of St Asaph*John Trevor II, late 14th century Bishop of St Asaph*Sir John Trevor , MP and Surveyor of the Queen's Ships...
Sir John Trevor (c. 1637 – 20 May 1717) was a Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and politician
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
. He was Speaker of the English House of Commons
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
from 1685 to 1687 (the Loyal Parliament
Loyal Parliament
The Loyal Parliament was the first and only Parliament of England of King James II, in theory continuing from May 1685 to July 1688, but in practice sitting during 1685 only. It gained its name because at the outset most of its members were loyal to the new king...
) and from 1689 to 1695. Trevor also served as Master of the Rolls
Master of the Rolls
The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the second most senior judge in England and Wales, after the Lord Chief Justice. The Master of the Rolls is the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal...
from 1685 to 1689 and from 1693 to 1717. His second term as Speaker came to an end when he was expelled from the House of Commons for accepting a substantial bribe. He remained the most recent Speaker to be forced out of office until Michael Martin
Michael Martin (politician)
Michael John Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn, PC is a British politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Glasgow Springburn from 1979 to 2005, and then for Glasgow North East until 2009...
resigned in 2009.
Early life
John Trevor was born around 1637 or 1638, the exact date of his birth being unrecorded. His father, also called John Trevor, was the son of Sir Edward TrevorEdward Trevor
Sir Edward Trevor was the founder of the fortunes of the Trevor dynasty, a major family of Denbighshire.While on military service in Ireland, Edward Trevor married into a landed family and thus acquired the Rostrevor estate in County Down. He was knighted in 1617, and built the mansion of...
; his mother was Margaret Jeffreys. The family lived at Brynkinalt in the Welsh county of Denbighshire
Denbighshire
Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...
.
Trevor was educated at Ruthin School
Ruthin School
Ruthin School is one of the oldest public schools in the United Kingdom. Located on the outskirts of Ruthin, the county town of Denbighshire in North Wales, the school is over seven hundred years old and has been co-educational since 1990.- Beginnings :...
he started his career as a clerk for his relative Arthur Trevor. From there he worked his way up with the help of the patronage of 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,...
until he was appointed a king's counsel by 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...
.
Political and judicial appointments
In 1685 he was appointed to the high offices of Master of the RollsMaster of the Rolls
The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the second most senior judge in England and Wales, after the Lord Chief Justice. The Master of the Rolls is the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal...
and Speaker of the House of Commons by 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...
. Being a tory
Tories (political faction)
The Tories were members of two political parties which existed, sequentially, in the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Great Britain and later the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from the 17th to the early 19th centuries.-Overview:...
and a partisan of James II, the accession of 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...
saw Trevor deprived of his office. In 1690, however, he once again returned to parliament as Speaker. From 1693, he also once again held the judicial
Judiciary
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
office of Master of the Rolls
Master of the Rolls
The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the second most senior judge in England and Wales, after the Lord Chief Justice. The Master of the Rolls is the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal...
. Between 1692 and 1695, he represented Newry
Newry (Parliament of Ireland constituency)
Newry was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons until 1800.-1692–1801:...
in the Irish House of Commons
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
.
As Speaker he was memorable for being severely cross-eyed
Strabismus
Strabismus is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. It typically involves a lack of coordination between the extraocular muscles, which prevents bringing the gaze of each eye to the same point in space and preventing proper binocular vision, which may adversely...
—the affliction was so confusing to members of the House
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
that they were frequently uncertain as to which of them had "caught the Speaker's eye", and would try to speak out of turn.
Scandal
On 7 March 1695, he was found guilty of accepting a bribe of 1000 guineas (£1050, but equivalent to around £1.6 million in 2009) from the City of LondonCity of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
to aid the passage of a bill
Bill (proposed law)
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
through the house. This was judged to be a "high crime and misdemeanour
High crimes and misdemeanours
The charge of high crimes and misdemeanors covers allegations of misconduct that do not fall under a more clearly defined impeachable offence; e.g., high treason...
" and he was expelled from the House of Commons, a move which he initially resisted on the ground of ill-health. He was not asked to refund the bribe and retained his judicial position until his death at the age of 79 or 80 on 20 May 1717.
Family
Through his daughter Anne, Sir John was the ancestor of the Hills, Marquesses of Downshire
Marquess of Downshire
Marquess of Downshire is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1789 for Wills Hill, 1st Earl of Hillsborough, a former Secretary of State....
, the family of Hill-Trevor, Viscounts Dungannon
Viscount Dungannon
Viscount Dungannon is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland. The first creation came in 1662 when Marcus Trevor was made Baron Trevor, of Rostrevor in the County of Down, and Viscount Dungannon...
, and of the Duke of Wellington
Duke of Wellington
The Dukedom of Wellington, derived from Wellington in Somerset, is a hereditary title in the senior rank of the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first holder of the title was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , the noted Irish-born career British Army officer and statesman, and...
.