Robert Southwell (diplomat)
Encyclopedia
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
for Ireland and President of the Royal Society
President of the Royal Society
The president of the Royal Society is the elected director of the Royal Society of London. After informal meetings at Gresham College, the Royal Society was founded officially on 15 July 1662 for the encouragement of ‘philosophical studies’, by a royal charter which nominated William Brouncker as...
from 1690.
Background and education
Robert Southwell was born near Kinsale in co. Cork on 31 December 1635 to Robert Southwell (1608-1677) and his wife Helena, daughter of Major Robert Gore, of Shereton, Wiltshire. The family had settled in IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
a couple of generations earlier, and his father had become a customs official at Kinsale
Kinsale
Kinsale is a town in County Cork, Ireland. Located some 25 km south of Cork City on the coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon and has a population of 2,257 which increases substantially during the summer months when the tourist season is at its peak and...
in 1631. Like other Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
planters, he was threatened by the Irish Rising of 1641. During the Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, he followed the Royalist cause, placing him in a weak position. This may be why his son was sent to Christchurch, Hampshire in 1650, before graduating to Queen's College, Oxford, from which he graduated BA in 1655. Between 1659 and 1661, he travelled in Europe meeting some of the leading intellectuals of his time. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in 1662.
Public office
On his return to Ireland, his father wanted him to find employment that would keep him in Ireland. He obtained the post of secretary to the Commission of Prizes in 1664. Soon after, he married Elizabeth Dering (1649–1682), daughter of Sir Edward Dering, 2nd BaronetSir Edward Dering, 2nd Baronet
Sir Edward Dering, 2nd Baronet was an English politician.He was the eldest surviving son and heir of Sir Edward Dering, 1st Baronet of Pluckley, Kent by his second marriage to Anne, sister of John Ashburnham. He was admitted as a fellow-commoner to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge...
, by whom his son Edward Southwell
Edward Southwell (1671–1730)
Edward Southwell was an Irish politician, the son of Sir Robert Southwell.He sat in the Irish House of Commons for Kinsale from 1692 to 1699, for Dublin University from 1703 to 1713 and then again for Kinsale from 1713 to his death.In 1702 Southwell succeeded his father as Principal Secretary of...
was born. Her marriage portion of £1500 enabled him to buy one of the four clerkships of the Privy Council.
His linguistic abilities suited him for diplomatic service. He was appointed in November 1665 as an emissary to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, being knighted before he left. There he assisted in securing the peace between Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Portugal, which was achieved in February 1668. He returned to England, but was sent back to Portugal, staying for over another year.
In October 1671, he was dispatched to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
as ambassador. On his return, he was elected to the English Parliament for Penryn
Penryn (UK Parliament constituency)
Penryn was a parliamentary borough in Cornwall, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England from 1553 until 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to until 1832...
in 1673. He also took up again the post of secretary to the Commission of Prizes, which he had resigned in 1667 and became his father's deputy as Vice-admiral of Munster. He also became a Commissioner of Excise in 1671.
Southwell was embarrassed by the 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...
, and sold his clerkship of the Privy Council in 1679. However, he remained in favour, being appointed in spring 1680 as an envoy to the Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...
, with the object of constructing an alliance against France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. This took him to the courts of 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...
and the Duke of Brunswick–Lüneburg, but the project was no longer what 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...
wanted.
In 1685, he was elected to Parliament again, this time for Lostwithiel
Lostwithiel (UK Parliament constituency)
Lostwithiel was a rotten borough in Cornwall which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the English and later British Parliament from 1304 to 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-History:...
. However, he was out of office in this period, having lost his Excise place in 1681.
After the Glorious Revolution
After the accession of WilliamWilliam 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...
and Mary II of England
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...
, Southwell accompanied William to Ireland, as his principal secretary
Secretary of State (Ireland)
The Principal Secretary of State, or Principal Secretary of the Council, was a government office in the Kingdom of Ireland. It was abolished in 1801 when Ireland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Acts of Union 1800....
, after the deposed 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...
had landed at Kinsale in his attempt to recover his kingdom. He was in Ireland from June to October 1690. In December he was elected as President of the Royal Society
President of the Royal Society
The president of the Royal Society is the elected director of the Royal Society of London. After informal meetings at Gresham College, the Royal Society was founded officially on 15 July 1662 for the encouragement of ‘philosophical studies’, by a royal charter which nominated William Brouncker as...
, a post to which he was re-elected annually until 1695. He also held office as a Customs Commission]]er from 1689 until 1697. He died at his estate King's Weston House near Bristol, on 11 September 1702 and was buried nearby in Henbury
Henbury
Henbury is a suburb of Bristol, England, approximately 5 mi northwest of the city centre. It was formerly a village in Gloucestershire and is now bordered by Westbury-on-Trym to the south; Brentry to the east and the Blaise Castle estate Blaise Hamlet and Lawrence Weston to the west...
church in Gloucestershire. Without severing himself from his Irish roots (almshouses in Kinsale record his memory), he had moved to being an English gentleman with Irish estates.