Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet
Encyclopedia
Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet (22 June 1593 – 26 October 1671) was a Parliamentarian
politician
and military figure in the English Civil War
.
Hall in Derbyshire
His father owned a large estate in the Wirksworth area, largely based on extensive interest in the lead industry
, which included possession of the lead tithes in the mines of Bakewell
, Hope
and Tideswell
and smelting and mine owning in Wirksworth. His father died shortly before the birth of a second son in 1594 and his mother married John Curzon, of Kedleston Hall
, soon afterwards. Millicent gave birth to a son, John, in 1598.Until his return to Hopton in 1620, Gell lived with his mother and stepfather at Kedleston. This proved significant to his later political career as he formed a close relationship with his half-brother, John Curzon
, who became an influential Member of Parliament
(MP). Gell was married in January 1609, at the age of 15, to Elizabeth Willoughby, daughter of Sir Percival Willoughby
of Wollaton Hall
in Nottinghamshire
.
In 1624 Gell was appointed captain of foot in the trained bands, or militia
, in the hundreds (administrative areas) of High Peak and Scarsdale. During a decade or more as a militia captain Gell learned how the military was organised in Derbyshire. He became familiar with the rank
and file and their officer
s and with the minutiae of training and command . This knowledge and expertise was soon to be put to use.
in London
. This was the office of Receiver and Supervisor of the Honour of Tutbury, granted in 1632 successively, for life, to Thomas, and to John and his son, John Gell the younger. The Honour of Tutbury was the name given to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire
estates of the Duchy of Lancaster
, a royal possession, and Thomas was responsible for collecting Duchy rents and dues, including fees payable whenever a Duchy tenancy was transferred by sale or inheritance. Armed with a schedule of property on which inheritance fees were outstanding, Thomas Gell ordered that defaulters' property should be seized in lieu of unpaid Duchy rents. At a time when the king, Charles I
, was governing without a Parliament
, and was desperately short of money, the Gells' revenue raising earned them Royal favour. John Gell was rewarded by appointment to the post of High Sheriff of Derbyshire
for the year 1635.
Gell's year as High Sheriff was politically important because one of his duties was to raise the tax known as Ship Money
,levied for the first time in 1635. Ship Money had previously been levied on coastal towns and its extension to inland areas caused resentment which contributed toward the gathering estrangement between Charles I and Parliament. In Derbyshire Gell set about raising the tax with a thoroughness which made him many personal enemies, especially among those of his own class, who paid the highest rates. Gell was ruthless in using "distraint" - confiscation of assets - against non-payers, and succeeded in raising more for the king than subsequent sheriffs. Gell's record of service to the crown was rewarded by the grant of a baronet
cy in 1642, after payments made on his behalf by his brother Thomas, in London, which included "a warrant for a Baronett £300".
to raise a regiment in Derbyshire and throughout the First English Civil War
, between 1642 and 1646, managed to maintain the county's allegiance to Parliament. Units of his regiment fought engagements in the neighbouring counties of Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire and took part in the siege of Chester
. Among the more important engagements in which the Derbyshire troops were involved were the siege of Lichfield
and the Battle of Hopton Heath
, in which the royalist
s suffered the loss of the Earl of Northampton
. Gell was appointed Governor of Derby in 1643.
and East Midlands
regions and was out of sympathy with the political direction taken by the regime which emerged after the king's surrender in 1646, as he argued in a petition to the king at Charles II's restoration A further cause of disillusionment for Gell was Parliament's reluctance to compensate him for losses he incurred in fighting the war. In 1646 his regiment was disbanded and in 1648 he was relieved of all appointments He moved permanently to London, having previously transferred his estate to his son John, with whom he kept up a regular correspondance on politics, family matters and the running of the estate
In London he made contact with the king, asking pardon for his part in the war and making a gift of £300. In 1650 he was tried and found guilty of misprision of treason
, in other words of knowing of a royalist plot and not revealing it to the authorities. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and confiscation of his estates. The authorities were thwarted in their attempt to confiscate the Hopton estate since John Gell the younger was able to prove its transfer to himself. Gell was imprisoned in the Tower of London
but released in 1653 on grounds of ill health; he took no further part in politics during the Commonwealth period
. He was pardoned by Charles II
at the Restoration
in 1660 and given an appointment at the royal court.
Gell's wife Elizabeth had died in 1644 and in December 1647 Gell had remarried. His second wife was Mary Stanhope, widow of one of his Derbyshire enemies, Sir John Stanhope
of Elvaston
. Gell had harried Stanhope for payment of Ship Money in events described by Mary in a petition to Parliament This unlikely alliance lasted less than a year and the couple separated in late 1648. Mary died in 1653. Gell died in 1671 and his body was carried in procession back to Wirksworth where he was buried in the church there.
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and military figure in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
.
Background
He was born to Thomas Gell and Millicent Sacheverell in HoptonHopton, Derbyshire
Hopton is a hamlet in the English county of Derbyshire.It is south west of Wirksworth and at the northern end of Carsington Water.The village had a long association with the Gell family who had extensive lead mining interests in the Wirksworth area and lived at Hopton Hall...
Hall in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
His father owned a large estate in the Wirksworth area, largely based on extensive interest in the lead industry
Derbyshire lead mining history
This article details some of the history of lead mining in Derbyshire, England.- Background :On one of the walls in Wirksworth church is a crude stone carving, found nearby at Bonsall and placed in the church in the 1870s. Probably executed in Anglo-Saxon times, it shows a man carrying a kibble or...
, which included possession of the lead tithes in the mines of Bakewell
Bakewell
Bakewell is a small market town in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, deriving its name from 'Beadeca's Well'. It is the only town included in the Peak District National Park, and is well known for the local confection Bakewell Pudding...
, Hope
Hope, Derbyshire
Hope is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District, in England. It lies in the Hope Valley, at the point where Peakshole Water flows into the River Noe. To the north, Win Hill and Lose Hill stand either side of the Noe....
and Tideswell
Tideswell
Tideswell is a village and civil parish in the Peak District of Derbyshire, in England. It lies east of Buxton on the B6049, in a wide dry valley on a limestone plateau, at an altitude of above sea level, and is within the District of Derbyshire Dales...
and smelting and mine owning in Wirksworth. His father died shortly before the birth of a second son in 1594 and his mother married John Curzon, of Kedleston Hall
Kedleston Hall
Kedleston Hall is an English country house in Kedleston, Derbyshire, approximately four miles north-west of Derby, and is the seat of the Curzon family whose name originates in Notre-Dame-de-Courson in Normandy...
, soon afterwards. Millicent gave birth to a son, John, in 1598.Until his return to Hopton in 1620, Gell lived with his mother and stepfather at Kedleston. This proved significant to his later political career as he formed a close relationship with his half-brother, John Curzon
Sir John Curzon, 1st Baronet
Sir John Curzon, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England from 1640 to 1648...
, who became an influential 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,...
(MP). Gell was married in January 1609, at the age of 15, to Elizabeth Willoughby, daughter of Sir Percival Willoughby
Percival Willoughby
Sir Percival Willoughby was a prominent land owner, businessman involved during his lifetime variously in mining, iron smelting, glass making and as an investor in the Newfoundland Company. He married Bridget Willoughby, evidently his third cousin, the daughter of Sir Francis Willoughby builder...
of Wollaton Hall
Wollaton Hall
Wollaton Hall is a country house standing on a small but prominent hill in Wollaton, Nottingham, England. Wollaton Park is the area of parkland that the stately house stands in. The house itself is a natural history museum, with other museums in the out-buildings...
in Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
.
In 1624 Gell was appointed captain of foot in the trained bands, or militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
, in the hundreds (administrative areas) of High Peak and Scarsdale. During a decade or more as a militia captain Gell learned how the military was organised in Derbyshire. He became familiar with the rank
Military rank
Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms...
and file and their officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
s and with the minutiae of training and command . This knowledge and expertise was soon to be put to use.
Politics
Gell's next public appointment was shared with his brother, Thomas, who was a well-connected barristerBarrister
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...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. This was the office of Receiver and Supervisor of the Honour of Tutbury, granted in 1632 successively, for life, to Thomas, and to John and his son, John Gell the younger. The Honour of Tutbury was the name given to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
estates of the Duchy of Lancaster
Duchy of Lancaster
The Duchy of Lancaster is one of the two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Cornwall. It is held in trust for the Sovereign, and is used to provide income for the use of the British monarch...
, a royal possession, and Thomas was responsible for collecting Duchy rents and dues, including fees payable whenever a Duchy tenancy was transferred by sale or inheritance. Armed with a schedule of property on which inheritance fees were outstanding, Thomas Gell ordered that defaulters' property should be seized in lieu of unpaid Duchy rents. At a time when the king, Charles I
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...
, was governing without a Parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
, and was desperately short of money, the Gells' revenue raising earned them Royal favour. John Gell was rewarded by appointment to the post of High Sheriff of Derbyshire
High Sheriff of Derbyshire
This is a list of High Sheriffs of Derbyshire from 1568.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been...
for the year 1635.
Gell's year as High Sheriff was politically important because one of his duties was to raise the tax known as Ship Money
Ship money
Ship money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...
,levied for the first time in 1635. Ship Money had previously been levied on coastal towns and its extension to inland areas caused resentment which contributed toward the gathering estrangement between Charles I and Parliament. In Derbyshire Gell set about raising the tax with a thoroughness which made him many personal enemies, especially among those of his own class, who paid the highest rates. Gell was ruthless in using "distraint" - confiscation of assets - against non-payers, and succeeded in raising more for the king than subsequent sheriffs. Gell's record of service to the crown was rewarded by the grant of a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
cy in 1642, after payments made on his behalf by his brother Thomas, in London, which included "a warrant for a Baronett £300".
Civil War 1642-1646
The honour may have been designed to secure Gell's loyalty to the Crown in the conflict with Parliament which by then seemed inevitable. However Gell, a Presbyterian, was opposed to the king's attempts to reform the church on High Church lines and to his political absolutism, and chose Parliament. He was commissioned as ColonelColonel
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...
to raise a regiment in Derbyshire and throughout the First English Civil War
First English Civil War
The First English Civil War began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War . "The English Civil War" was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651, and includes the Second English Civil War and...
, between 1642 and 1646, managed to maintain the county's allegiance to Parliament. Units of his regiment fought engagements in the neighbouring counties of Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire and took part in the siege of Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
. Among the more important engagements in which the Derbyshire troops were involved were the siege of Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
and the Battle of Hopton Heath
Battle of Hopton Heath
The Battle of Hopton Heath, in Staffordshire, was a battle of the First English Civil War, fought on Sunday 19 March 1643 between Parliamentarian forces led by Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet and Sir William Brereton and a Royalist force under Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton...
, in which the royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
s suffered the loss of the Earl of Northampton
Earl of Northampton
Earl of Northampton is a title that has been created five times.-Earls in for the Honour of Huntingdon, first Creation :*Waltheof *Maud, Countess of Huntingdon** m. Simon I de Senlis** m...
. Gell was appointed Governor of Derby in 1643.
Post Civil War
Gell had an irascible nature and a dictatorial way with both his regiment and his colleagues in the county administration which made enemies and provoked complaints to Parliament. He also became disaffected with the Parliamentary commanders in the NorthernNorthern Midlands
The Northern Midlands Council or Municipality of Northern Midlands is a Local Government Area of Tasmania. It covers the northern part of the central midlands agricultural area, around the Midland Highway....
and East Midlands
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
regions and was out of sympathy with the political direction taken by the regime which emerged after the king's surrender in 1646, as he argued in a petition to the king at Charles II's restoration A further cause of disillusionment for Gell was Parliament's reluctance to compensate him for losses he incurred in fighting the war. In 1646 his regiment was disbanded and in 1648 he was relieved of all appointments He moved permanently to London, having previously transferred his estate to his son John, with whom he kept up a regular correspondance on politics, family matters and the running of the estate
In London he made contact with the king, asking pardon for his part in the war and making a gift of £300. In 1650 he was tried and found guilty of misprision of treason
Misprision of treason
Misprision of treason is an offence found in many common law jurisdictions around the world, having been inherited from English law. It is committed by someone who knows a treason is being or is about to be committed but does not report it to a proper authority...
, in other words of knowing of a royalist plot and not revealing it to the authorities. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and confiscation of his estates. The authorities were thwarted in their attempt to confiscate the Hopton estate since John Gell the younger was able to prove its transfer to himself. Gell was imprisoned in the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
but released in 1653 on grounds of ill health; he took no further part in politics during the Commonwealth period
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 was pardoned 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...
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...
in 1660 and given an appointment at the royal court.
Gell's wife Elizabeth had died in 1644 and in December 1647 Gell had remarried. His second wife was Mary Stanhope, widow of one of his Derbyshire enemies, Sir John Stanhope
Sir John Stanhope
Sir John Stanhope was an English knight and landowner and father of the 1st Earl of Chesterfield.He was appointed Postmaster General to Queen Elizabeth on 20 June 1590....
of Elvaston
Elvaston, Derbyshire
Elvaston is a small village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England. The parish also includes two other hamlets, Ambaston and Thulston, and a recently built housing estate Boulton Moor...
. Gell had harried Stanhope for payment of Ship Money in events described by Mary in a petition to Parliament This unlikely alliance lasted less than a year and the couple separated in late 1648. Mary died in 1653. Gell died in 1671 and his body was carried in procession back to Wirksworth where he was buried in the church there.