Sir Walter Clarges, 1st Baronet
Encyclopedia
Sir Walter Clarges, 1st Baronet (4 July 1653 – March 1705/6) was an English
Tory
politician who served four separate terms in Parliament
. An early ally of William of Orange
, he inherited large holdings of land but no great ability from his father, Sir Thomas Clarges
, and largely used his Parliamentary seat to advance his own business and financial interests.
at Merton College
, Oxford
on 3 February 1670/1. On 30 October 1674 he was created Baronet
, an honour which his father had sought for him; Clarges' father was one of the oldest and most respected of the Country Party. As soon as he had come of age in 1674, his father sought for him a seat in Parliament, intending him to stand for Clitheroe
; however he was ordered to make way for a nominee of the Duke of Albemarle
, his cousin.
's Regiment of Foot in 1678, Clarges transferred to the Royal Dragoons the next year, the same year as he was elected Member of Parliament
for Colchester
in the general election. He was made a Freeman
of Maldon
. In Parliament he was with his father in opposition to the efforts to remove
the (Catholic) Duke of York
from the line of succession to the throne. These efforts were unsuccessful and Clarges lost his seat at the 1681 election when Titus Oates
told the electors that he was a Papist
. Also in 1681 he became a Major in the 1st Troop of Horse Guards.
fought a duel
with Lord Grey of Warke
in 1682, he chose Clarges to act as his second. Albemarle and Clarges both survived but came off worst in the duel, with Clarges being wounded and disarmed by Grey's second, Charles Godfrey.
in official life; Clarges drew attention to, and denounced each change. He resigned his commission in the army in October 1685, probably as a protest against the employment of Roman Catholic officers. He became a Freeman of Oxford
in 1687. When William of Orange
landed, Clarges was sent by his father (said to be 'at great expense') to attend upon him at Exeter
in November 1688.
as a Tory
. Running with Sir William Pulteney (who was a business partner of his father), they beat the two Whig
candidates so easily that their opponents withdrew two days before the close of the poll. Clarges suspected the motives and patriotism of the Whigs, who had fought for the exclusion of the Duke of York; he described them as "now making excuses for those, who most people think guilty of the basest and most dishonourable action that was ever done in this nation".
Clarges was largely inactive in the Parliament, his only major action being to supervise the later House of Commons
stages of a Private bill
to clarify the law on the new parish of St Anne
which had been carved out of the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields
in 1686. The Bill had been initiated by his father, who owned a large amount of land in the parish.
, Clarges was clearly behind on the show of hands on 24 October (on which he distributed £
2,000 in bribes). He demanded a poll but finished some 700 votes behind.
His new inheritance brought him land worth £5,000 a year, and it added to the wealth he had gained by marrying his third wife Elizabeth Gould in December 1690; Mrs Gould was the coheiress of a wealthy City draper. He declined to fight Westminster in the 1698 general election, but in 1701 found himself in need of a position in Parliament after granting a lease over land in Piccadilly
to Thomas Neale
. Under the terms of the lease, Neale was to spend £10,000 developing the land, and then pay rent to Clarges; however, Neale became insolvent and defaulted. Clarges could be sure of repossessing the land by passing a Private Bill, and stood in the January general election of 1701. The Court interest was against him and he finished fourth with 1,177 votes; the winners had more than twice as many.
; the new Queen was a Tory supporter and so the Court interest was now on the side. The contest went to a poll and was very close, and a scrutiny of the votes was ordered, but at the end Clarges was elected with a small majority.
to commit a business enemy, William Sherwin, to jail. Sherwin had been involved in a long-running inheritance dispute over Clarges' estate in Yorkshire
at Sutton upon Derwent
, which the Clarges had inherited from Clarges' cousin the Duke of Albemarle
. Sherwin contended that the Duke's mother's first husband, who had disappeared, was still alive making their marriage null and him the rightful owner of the property; he had failed to persuade several courts to support him, but nevertheless started to run the estate as his own. On 8 December, the House of Commons ordered Sherwin imprisoned.
Clarges also held a £500 pension granted originally to his father which came from the product of a 12d
duty on coal
shipped from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was appointed to report from a committee that the Newcastle coalowners were deliberately profiteering, and introduced a Bill to regulate coal shipments, although he did not pursue the matter.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
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...
politician who served four separate terms in 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...
. An early ally of William 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...
, he inherited large holdings of land but no great ability from his father, Sir Thomas Clarges
Thomas Clarges
Sir Thomas Clarges was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1656 and 1695. He played an important part in bringing about the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660....
, and largely used his Parliamentary seat to advance his own business and financial interests.
Early career
Clarges matriculatedMatriculation
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...
at Merton College
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
on 3 February 1670/1. On 30 October 1674 he was created Baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
, an honour which his father had sought for him; Clarges' father was one of the oldest and most respected of the Country Party. As soon as he had come of age in 1674, his father sought for him a seat in Parliament, intending him to stand for Clitheroe
Clitheroe (UK Parliament constituency)
Clitheroe was a parliamentary constituency in Lancashire.The town of Clitheroe was first enfranchised as a parliamentary borough in 1559, returning two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England until 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain until 1800, and finally to the...
; however he was ordered to make way for a nominee of the Duke of Albemarle
Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle
Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle, KG, PC was an English statesman and failed soldier.He was the son of George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle....
, his cousin.
Exclusion Parliament
Appointed a captain in the Duke of MonmouthJames 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...
's Regiment of Foot in 1678, Clarges transferred to the Royal Dragoons the next year, the same year as he was elected 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,...
for Colchester
Colchester (UK Parliament constituency)
Colchester is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-History:...
in the general election. He was made a Freeman
Freedom of the City
Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...
of Maldon
Maldon, Essex
Maldon is a town on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon district and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.Maldon is twinned with the Dutch town of Cuijk...
. In Parliament he was with his father in opposition to the efforts to remove
Exclusion Bill
The Exclusion Crisis ran from 1678 through 1681 in the reign of Charles II of England. The Exclusion Bill sought to exclude the king's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland because he was Roman Catholic...
the (Catholic) Duke of York
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...
from the line of succession to the throne. These efforts were unsuccessful and Clarges lost his seat at the 1681 election when Titus 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:...
told the electors that he was a Papist
Papist
Papist is a term or an anti-Catholic slur, referring to the Roman Catholic Church, its teachings, practices, or adherents. The term was coined during the English Reformation to denote a person whose loyalties were to the Pope, rather than to the Church of England...
. Also in 1681 he became a Major in the 1st Troop of Horse Guards.
Dueling
When the Duke of AlbemarleChristopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle
Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle, KG, PC was an English statesman and failed soldier.He was the son of George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle....
fought a duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
with Lord Grey of Warke
Ford Grey, 1st Earl of Tankerville
Ford Grey, 1st Earl of Tankerville , 1st Viscount Glendale, and 3rd Baron Grey of Warke, was a British nobleman and statesman. He was the son of Ralph Grey, 2nd Baron Grey of Werke and Catherine Ford, daughter of Sir Edward Ford of Harting in West Sussex. He was baptized the day of his birth at...
in 1682, he chose Clarges to act as his second. Albemarle and Clarges both survived but came off worst in the duel, with Clarges being wounded and disarmed by Grey's second, Charles Godfrey.
Opposing James II
Re-elected in 1685 after the Duke ascended the throne as James II, Clarges made his mark in Parliament as an opponent of the King's religious policies. Starting out as a conciliator, James II progressively moved to increase the involvement of the Roman Catholic ChurchRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
in official life; Clarges drew attention to, and denounced each change. He resigned his commission in the army in October 1685, probably as a protest against the employment of Roman Catholic officers. He became a Freeman of Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
in 1687. When William 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...
landed, Clarges was sent by his father (said to be 'at great expense') to attend upon him at Exeter
Exeter
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...
in November 1688.
Election for Westminster
In the 1690 general election, Clarges had the assistance of his fathers' resources and personal influence in seeking election in WestminsterWestminster (UK Parliament constituency)
Westminster was a parliamentary constituency in the Parliament of England to 1707, the Parliament of Great Britain 1707-1800 and the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801. It returned two members to 1885 and one thereafter....
as a 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...
. Running with Sir William Pulteney (who was a business partner of his father), they beat the two Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
candidates so easily that their opponents withdrew two days before the close of the poll. Clarges suspected the motives and patriotism of the Whigs, who had fought for the exclusion of the Duke of York; he described them as "now making excuses for those, who most people think guilty of the basest and most dishonourable action that was ever done in this nation".
Clarges was largely inactive in the Parliament, his only major action being to supervise the later House of Commons
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...
stages of a Private bill
Local and Personal Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom
Local and Personal Acts of Parliament are laws in the United Kingdom which apply to a particular individual or group of individuals, or corporate entity. This contrasts with a Public General Act of Parliament which applies to the entire community...
to clarify the law on the new parish of St Anne
St Anne Within the Liberty of Westminster
St Anne Within the Liberty of Westminster, also known as St Anne Soho, was a civil parish in the metropolitan area of London, England.It was created in 1687 from part of the ancient parish of St Martin in the Fields, and was within the Liberty of Westminster.It was grouped into the Strand District...
which had been carved out of the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin in the Fields (parish)
St Martin in the Fields was a civil parish in the metropolitan area of London, England. It took its name from the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields and was within the Liberty of Westminster. It included within its boundaries Buckingham Palace and St...
in 1686. The Bill had been initiated by his father, who owned a large amount of land in the parish.
Election difficulties
At the 1695 general election, Clarges (who had just recovered from a serious illness) had a more difficult fight. His father died on 4 October just as the fight was at its height. Despite the support of the Bishop of London and the Duke of LeedsThomas 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...
, Clarges was clearly behind on the show of hands on 24 October (on which he distributed £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
2,000 in bribes). He demanded a poll but finished some 700 votes behind.
His new inheritance brought him land worth £5,000 a year, and it added to the wealth he had gained by marrying his third wife Elizabeth Gould in December 1690; Mrs Gould was the coheiress of a wealthy City draper. He declined to fight Westminster in the 1698 general election, but in 1701 found himself in need of a position in Parliament after granting a lease over land in Piccadilly
Piccadilly
Piccadilly is a major street in central London, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...
to Thomas Neale
Thomas Neale
Thomas Neale was a British project-manager and politician who was also well-known in the United States as the first person to hold a position equivalent to postmaster-general of the North American colonies....
. Under the terms of the lease, Neale was to spend £10,000 developing the land, and then pay rent to Clarges; however, Neale became insolvent and defaulted. Clarges could be sure of repossessing the land by passing a Private Bill, and stood in the January general election of 1701. The Court interest was against him and he finished fourth with 1,177 votes; the winners had more than twice as many.
Return to favour
Notwithstanding his exclusion from Parliament, Clarges petitioned for his Bill but saw it defeated at second reading by Neale's friends on 2 May 1701. Fortunately for Clarges, he recovered the property by some other means and developed it himself. At the general election in 1702 he stood again in Westminster, after the accession of Queen AnneAnne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
; the new Queen was a Tory supporter and so the Court interest was now on the side. The contest went to a poll and was very close, and a scrutiny of the votes was ordered, but at the end Clarges was elected with a small majority.
Parliamentary activity
His first action in Parliament was to use Parliamentary privilegeParliamentary 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...
to commit a business enemy, William Sherwin, to jail. Sherwin had been involved in a long-running inheritance dispute over Clarges' estate in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
at Sutton upon Derwent
Sutton upon Derwent
Sutton upon Derwent is a small village and civil parish on the River Derwent in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, approximately to the south-east of York. The population stood at only 575 in the 2001 UK census,...
, which the Clarges had inherited from Clarges' cousin the Duke of Albemarle
Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle
Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle, KG, PC was an English statesman and failed soldier.He was the son of George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle....
. Sherwin contended that the Duke's mother's first husband, who had disappeared, was still alive making their marriage null and him the rightful owner of the property; he had failed to persuade several courts to support him, but nevertheless started to run the estate as his own. On 8 December, the House of Commons ordered Sherwin imprisoned.
Clarges also held a £500 pension granted originally to his father which came from the product of a 12d
British One Penny coin (pre-decimal)
The English Penny, originally a coin of 1.3 to 1.5 g pure silver, includes the penny introduced around the year 785 by King Offa of Mercia. However, his coins were similar in size and weight to the continental deniers of the period, and to the Anglo-Saxon sceats which had gone before it, which were...
duty on coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
shipped from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was appointed to report from a committee that the Newcastle coalowners were deliberately profiteering, and introduced a Bill to regulate coal shipments, although he did not pursue the matter.