Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh
Encyclopedia
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...
statesman and politician, was created the first Baron Clifford of Chudleigh on 22 April 1672 for his suggestion that the King
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...
supply himself with money by stopping, for one year, all payments out of the Exchequer.
He was born in Ugbrooke
Ugbrooke
Ugbrooke Park is a country house located in a valley between Exeter and Newton Abbot in Devon, England. It dates back over 900 years, having featured in the Domesday Book. Before the Reformation the land belonged to the Church and the house was occupied by Precentors to the Bishop of Exeter...
, the son of Hugh Clifford of Chudleigh
Chudleigh
Chudleigh is a small town in Devon, England located between the towns of Newton Abbot and Exeter.Chudleigh is very close to the edge of Dartmoor and bypassed by the A38 road in 1972. It began life as a small wool market town, though the nearby Castle Dyke is an Iron Age Hill Fort which demonstrates...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir George Chudleigh, Bt
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
. He was baptised 4 August 1630 at Ugbrooke, and matriculated at Exeter College
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
(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...
), receiving his B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
there in 1650.
Political and Public Life
He became a 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...
of the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
and an MP
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 Totnes
Totnes
Totnes is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
in 1660-1672. He distinguished himself in naval battles, and was knighted. He became Comptroller of the Household
Comptroller of the Household
The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the English royal household, currently the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department, and often a cabinet member. He was an ex officio member of the Board of Green Cloth, until that body was abolished in the reform of the local...
in 1666 and a member of the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
. At the end of the Dutch war
Second Anglo-Dutch War
The Second Anglo–Dutch War was part of a series of four Anglo–Dutch Wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes....
in 1669 he intrigued against the peace treaty, preferring the French interests. He was one of the five Counsellors who formed the Cabal
Cabal Ministry
The Cabal Ministry refers to a group of high councillers of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1668 to circa 1674.The term "Cabal" has a double meaning in this context. It refers to the fact that, for perhaps the first time in English history, effective power in a royal council...
, though he was probably the least important of them.
He was Lord High Treasurer
Lord High Treasurer
The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Act of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third highest ranked Great Officer of State, below the Lord High Chancellor and above the Lord President...
from 28 November 1672 to June 1673, when, as a Roman Catholic, he found himself unable to comply with the Test Act
Test Act
The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and Nonconformists...
and resigned.
He died by his own hand (perhaps "strangled with his cravat
Cravat
The cravat is a neckband, the forerunner of the modern tailored necktie and bow tie, originating from 17th-century Croatia.From the end of the 16th century, the term band applied to any long-strip neckcloth that was not a ruff...
t upon the bed-tester") a few months after his retirement.
Family and children
- His father: Sir Hugh Clifford of Chudleigh, Devon and Ugbrooke
- His mother: Mary, daughter of Sir George Chudleigh, 1st BtBaronetA baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
Chudleigh of Ashton. - His aunt: Sabrina Clifford, married Matthew Hals of Kenendon. Their daughter, Anne, married Rev John Tindal and was the mother of Dr Matthew TindalMatthew TindalMatthew Tindal was an eminent English deist author. His works, highly influential at the dawn of the Enlightenment, caused great controversy and challenged the Christian consensus of his time.-Life:...
, the eminent deist and author of Christianity as Old as the Creation. - He married Elizabeth Martin, who died in 1709. She was the daughter of Richard (William) Martin of Lindridge, Devon.
- They had fifteen children, eight of which were daughters:
- Elizabeth, born before 1655, died as infant.
- Elizabeth, born 1655, died 1677, married in 1673 Henry Carew, 2nd Baronet Carew of Haccombe. They had no issue (?).
- Mary, born 1658, died 9 October 1715, married in 1673 Sir Simon Leach of Cadeleigh. They had no issue (?).
- Amy, born 1661, died 1693, married in October 1681 John Courtenay of MollandMollandMolland is a civil parish and small village located on the southern slopes of Exmoor in North Devon, England.The former manor of Molland, largely co-terminous with the parish boundary, continues in existence as a large private estate under the ownership of Mrs Clare McLaren-Throckmorton, of...
, Devon. They had numerous issue, as the mural monument in Molland Church attests. No male grandsons resulted and Molland descended via their daughter Mary who married William Paston of Horton CourtHorton CourtHorton Court is a stone-built manor house situated in Horton, near Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire, England. The building has been a National Trust property since 1949....
, Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire. - Anne, born 1662, died 1678.
- Rhoda, born 1665, died 1689.
- Isabel Clifford, born between 1665 and 1669, died as infant.
- Catherine Clifford, born 1670, died 1708.
And their sons were:
- Thomas, born before 1652, died as infant.
- Thomas, born before 1652, died as infant.
- Thomas, born on 3 December 1652, died in 1671 in Florence, Italy.
- George, born between 1653 and 1662, died as infant
- Hugh, 2nd Baron Clifford of ChudleighHugh Clifford, 2nd Baron Clifford of ChudleighHugh Clifford, 2nd Baron Clifford of Chudleigh was baptized on 21 December 1663 in Ugbrooke and died on 12 October 1730 in Cannington, Somerset. Though the 7th child and 2nd son, he was the eldest living son when his father died...
(1663-1730) - Simon, born 1666, died ?, acceeded in 1686.
- Charles, born 1671, baptized on 24 June 1671, died on 4 July 1691, buried in Ugbrooke.