Ralph Stawell, 1st Baron Stawell (died 1689) was an English

Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...

 landowner

Landed gentry

Landed gentry is a traditional British social class, consisting of land owners who could live entirely off rental income. Often they worked only in an administrative capacity looking after the management of their own lands....

, soldier, Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 and peer

Peerage of England

The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....

.

Stawell married firstly Ann, a daughter of John Ryves, Esquire

Esquire

Esquire is a term of West European origin . Depending on the country, the term has different meanings...

, and by her had one son, John. He married secondly Abigail, daughter and heiress of William Pitt, Esq., and with her had two sons and four daughters.

In 1679, standing in the Tory

Tory

Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...

 or "court" interest, Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 Ralph Stawell was returned as one of the two members of parliament for Bridgwater

Bridgwater (UK Parliament constituency)

Bridgwater was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, until 2010 when it was replaced by the Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency...

 in 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...

. A Roman Catholic, on 15 January 1683/84 Stawell was created Baron Stawell

Baron Stawell

Baron Stawell was a title that was created twice in British history. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1683 when Colonel Ralph Stawell was made Baron Stawell, of Somerton in the County of Somerset. The title became extinct on the death of the fourth Baron in 1755...

, of Somerton

Somerton

Somerton is a small town and civil parish in the South Somerset district of the English county of Somerset. It gave its name to the county of Somerset, was briefly, around the start of the 14th century, the county town, and around 900 AD was possibly the capital of Wessex...

 in the County of Somerset. In 1688, the year of the Glorious Revolution

Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...

, he was briefly Lord Lieutenant of Somerset

Lord Lieutenant of Somerset

This is an incomplete list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Somerset. Since 1714, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Somerset.-Lord Lieutenants of Somerset:*John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford 1552–1555...

. In a commission dated from London

City 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...

 on 6 November 1688, the day after the landing in England of William, 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...

, King 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...

 appointed Stawell as his Lord 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...

 in Somerset in place of Lord Waldegrave

Henry Waldegrave, 1st Baron Waldegrave

Henry Waldegrave, 1st Baron Waldegrave was an English peer and Jacobite supporter.The son of Sir Charles Waldegrave, 3rd Baronet, Waldegrave inherited his father's title in about 1684. A year earlier, on 29th November, he had married Henrietta FitzJames, an illegitimate daughter of King James II...

, who was the husband of the king's illegitimate daughter Henrietta FitzJames

Henrietta FitzJames

Henrietta FitzJames , the Dowager Lady Waldegrave and titular Countess of Newcastle, was an illegitimate daughter of James Stuart, Duke of York, afterward James II, King of Great Britain, by his mistress, Arabella Churchill, herself sister of the Duke of Marlborough.Henrietta was sister to the...

.

With the success of the Revolution against James, Stawell was 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...

, where he died in 1689.