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James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon

James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon(16 June 1653 – 22 May 1699),[1]styledHon. James Bertieuntil 1657 and known as the5th Baron Norreysfrom 1657 until 1682, was an English nobleman.

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Abingdon
The 1st Earl of Abingdon. (Godfrey Kneller)
Justice in Eyre
South of the Trent
In office
1693–1697
Preceded byThe Lord Lovelace
Succeeded byThe Lord Wharton
Personal details
Born(1653-06-16)16 June 1653
Grimsthorpe Castle,Lincolnshire,Kingdom of England
Died22 May 1699(1699-05-22)(aged 45)
City and Liberty of Westminster,Kingdom of England
Spouse(s)Eleanora Lee
Catherine Chamberlayne
ChildrenMontagu Venables-Bertie, 2nd Earl of Abingdon
Hon. James Bertie
Hon. Henry Bertie
Lady Bridget Bertie
Lady Anne Bertie
Parents

Early life and relations

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Bertie was the eldest son ofMontagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey,by his second wife, Bridget Bertie (née Wray), 4th Baroness Norreys. His father, who had five sons by his previous marriage, was a royalist of impeccable credentials, and the head of an influential Lincolnshire family. While James' position as a sixth son might have limited his prospects, he was his mother's eldest son, and upon her death in c.1657, he became the 5thBaron NorreysofRycote.Together with the peerage, he inherited from his mother considerable estates, including the manors of Rycote,[2]Albury,[3]Wendlebury,[4]Chesterton,[5]Dorchester,[6]Thame,[7]BeckleyandHortonin Oxfordshire,[8]andWytham,[9]Cumnor[10]andFrilsham,[11]all then in Berkshire. These extensive estates would provide him with a base of political power in Oxfordshire.[2]The marriage in the early 1650s of his half-sister Bridget toSir Thomas Osbornewould also prove of great advantage to the Berties, as Osborne rose to become Duke of Leeds and one of the eminent politicians of the later Stuart era. Osborne was on particularly good terms with Lord Norreys, and often stayed and hunted with him at Rycote.[2]

On 1 February 1671/2, Norreys married Eleanor Lee atAdderbury.She was the elder daughter and coheir ofSir Henry Lee, 3rd Baronetand his wife Ann Danvers, both of whom had died in 1659.[12]The Danvers estates were left in trust for Eleanor and her sister Ann, who marriedThomas Whartonin 1673; Eleanor's aunt Elizabeth, wife ofRobert Villiers,later Danvers, was also a beneficiary, but the trustees bought out her share in the year of Ann's marriage.[12][13]Litigation arose between Norreys, Wharton, and their wives over the trust,[13]and a partition of the estates in 1681 made Abingdon, as he then was, and his wife the sole owners of the manors ofWest Lavington,[14]Marden,[15]andPatney,Wiltshire;[16]they also received Anne's share in the manor ofWestbury, Wiltshire.[17]The manor ofBradenstokewas divided between Anne and her aunt Elizabeth until 1683, when Abingdon bought out Elizabeth's interest.[18]

Norreys and his wife had six sons and three daughters:[19]

Upon the death ofLord Saye and Selein 1674, Norreys replaced him asLord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire.[23]He first took his seat in the House of Lords on 13 April 1675.[24]As befitted his royalist descent and connection with Osborne, now Earl of Danby andLord High Treasurer,Norreys belonged to the court party, later theTories.It was Danby who composed a quarrel between Norreys andLord Rochesterin September 1678 and averted a duel.[2]

Court supporter in Oxford

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James Bertie following his elevation to the earldom of Abingdon

The imaginary revelations of thePopish Plot,and the popular disdain for the policy ofCharles IIwhich Danby had carried out, led to a violent political reaction against Catholicism and the court party, managed in part by Danby's rivalLord Shaftesbury.[25]The King dissolved theCavalier Parliament,and new elections were held in February 1678/9. Norreys campaigned inOxfordandOxfordshirefor the court candidates to thenew Parliament,but without success: he was shouted out of the streets of Oxford by a mob.[2]The country party dominated the Commons, and Danby was forced to resign his offices. A royal pardon only heightened the outrage against him, and he was committed to theTower of Londonwhile the Commons, who had impeached him, debated his fate with the Lords.[25]Norreys remained a staunch supporter of the court, and Danby, corresponding with the King from the Tower that summer, recommended his advancement in the peerage. Although enthusiastic, Norreys was notoriously unwell, having suffered from "black jaundice" (perhapsWeil's disease), reputedly to the point of interfering with his parliamentary business.[2]

The opposition of Shaftesbury had rendered the two Parliaments summoned in 1679 quite unmanageable by the court. The King determined to hold a new Parliament inOxfordin 1681, hoping to draw on the city's traditional royalist loyalties. Norreys andJohn Fell,who had been the court's managers in the previous two elections, were entrusted with the preparations for holding the new Parliament. Fell managed to arrange a truce between Norreys andLord Lovelace,the principal Whig electioneer in the borough, while Norreys took care of the logistical details of hosting Parliament. Happily for him, the officer in the Royal Household responsible for accommodating Parliament, theLord Great Chamberlain,was his eldest half-brother,Lord Lindsey.The elections to theOxford Parliamentdid not prove any more favourable to the court party than those preceding, but Norreys played out his role as Lord Lieutenant and host, leading a troop of horse to escort the King from the border of Oxfordshire to the Parliament. Norreys also took the somewhat daring step of presenting a petition to the Lords for the bail of Danby, still languishing in the Tower; opinion was divided, and the matter was put aside for a few days on the suggestion ofLord Halifax.It was not taken up again: a secret treaty with France had relieved the King's need for supply, and a popular reaction against the Whigs had begun to grow. Charles was disinclined to wrangle with another Exclusionist parliament and abruptly dissolved it after a week.[2]

In July, the town clerk of Oxford died, and Norreys recommended Thomas Baker as a Tory candidate for the post toSir Leoline Jenkins,theSouthern secretary.Norreys acknowledged that Edward Prince, the Whig candidate, was likely to prove more popular, and the intervention of theDuke of Monmouthagainst Baker indeed secured Prince the vote on 11 August. An altercation ensued withBrome Whorwood,the late Whig MP for the borough, during the election: after an exchange of insults, wherein Norreys called Whorwood an "old knave" and was called a "young rogue" in turn, Norreys then proceeded to beat Whorwood with his cane. Norreys was apparently ready to duel Lord Lovelace (in place of the aged Whorwood) over the matter, but Lovelace declined to take up the quarrel, and Bishop Fell managed to patch up affairs between Norreys and Whorwood before they could reach the courts.[26]

Norreys by now had a much more important commission in hand from the court. As the Tory reaction gained strength, the court now proceeded, on rather specious grounds, against some of the Whigs for conspiring to depose the King. Jurisdiction overEdward Fitzharrisat law had been debated between Commons and Lords in the late Parliament; the dissolution of Parliament cleared the way for his condemnation in theCourt of King's Bench,and proceedings were then set afoot againstStephen College,a virulent anti-Catholic activist. Thegrand juryof Middlesex, which was Whiggish, failed to indict College; he was then brought before the Oxfordshire assizes for alleged misdeeds there. College had been a prominent figure at the assembly of the Oxford Parliament, riding into town armed and armoured to protect Protestantism, he claimed, from a Catholic rebellion. This can hardly have endeared him to Norreys, charged with keeping the peace in Oxford for the duration of the Parliament, and it was understood that he would engineer a successful indictment of College. Such was indeed the case: College was charged with sedition before a grand jury whose foreman was Norreys' younger brotherHenryand committed to trial. Norreys presided over the trial, held on 17 and 18 August 1681. College and his counsel,Aaron Smith,put up as good a defence as could be expected, and much of the evidence against him was circumstantial; but he could hardly hope to escape, and was promptly condemned to death.[2]This result was greatly satisfactory to the court, and on 30 November 1682, Norreys was createdEarl of Abingdonbyletters patent.


Break with James II

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James Bertie's Coat of Arms

As James II adopted increasingly forceful pro-Catholic policies, many Tories found themselves forced to choose between support for the Court and support for the Established Church. Abingdon sided with the Church: in particular, he took the side of the fellows ofMagdalen Collegein their quarrel with the King, which began in the spring of 1687. His division from the Court signaled his rapprochement with the borough of Oxford: on 16 September 1687,[27]he was unanimously electedhigh stewardof Oxford by thecorporation,[2]succeeding theDuke of Buckingham.[28]In October 1687, James II issued the "Three Questions" to hislord lieutenants,intended to identify supporters of his programme to remove the legal disabilities against Catholics. The lord lieutenants were to address these questions to members of thecommission of the peacein their respective counties and remove those hostile to Catholic tolerance. Abingdon, in a candid exchange with the King, refused to take part in this program. He further offended his master by his continued support for the fellows of Magdalen. When they were ejected on 16 November by theEcclesiastical Commission,he offered them his hospitality at Rycote. This act of defiance was not to be borne, and Abingdon was dismissed from the lord-lieutenancy and replaced by his wife's first cousin, theEarl of Lichfield.[29][30]

As James' program for generating a compliant government escalated, the borough of Oxford was "regulated", and the corporation dissolved in June 1688 byOrder in Council.A new charter was issued in September,[28]the patent for which named Lichfield as high steward in place of Abingdon.[31]With theGlorious Revolutionimminent, James reversed course in October and annulled the charters of 1684 and 1688. Abingdon was unanimously re-elected high steward,[28]an event celebrated widely, if not universally, in the borough.[2]During the year, he also bought the manor ofLittleton Panell,adjacent to his West Lavington estate, from Robert Tyderlegh and his wife, Mary.[14]

It was far too late, however, to recall Abingdon to his allegiance to James. Danby had signed theInvitation to Williamin June, and many of the Berties, including Abingdon, had been drawn into the conspiracy by September.[2][32]In November 1688, Abingdon defected to joinWilliam,leading 50 horsemen out of Oxford to William's headquarters inExeter,the first of the peers to openly take up arms on his behalf.[2]

After the Revolution

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Abingdon's Tory principles were not abated by his role in the Revolution. After the flight of James, he voted against declaring the throne vacant. Nonetheless, he was reappointed Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire on 3 May 1689 to replace Lichfield, andcustos rotulorumof the county on 9 July, replacing the resolutely JacobiteEarl of Clarendon.The two offices were thereafter united. Late in the year, Abingdon defended his conduct in the trial of Stephen College against an attack by theEarl of Macclesfield.While the attack was not pursued, Abingdon's political history at Oxford left his position under William always somewhat insecure, despite the renewed influence at court of Danby, now Marquess of Carmarthen.[2]He remained active in local politics in Berkshire, Oxfordshire, and Wiltshire. During the1690 elections,he put up his sonLord Norreys,the sitting member forBerkshire,up forOxfordshireas well. This was a prudent move: Norreys was defeated in Berkshire (he may not even have gone to the poll there),[33]but was returned for Oxfordshire after a bruising campaign which included accusations of Jacobitism levelled against Abingdon, which so dispirited him he considered resigning the lord-lieutenancy,[34]much to the dismay of Clarendon.[2]

Abingdon's wife Eleanora died suddenly on 31 May 1691 at West Lavington and was buried there on 6 June.[35]

In 1693, upon the death of his political rival Lord Lovelace, Carmarthen obtained for Abingdon the post ofJustice in Eyresouth of theRiver Trent.[36]The patronage of the post included a secretaryship to the justice, which he gave to his half-brotherCharles.

Abingdon's health, never good, continued to plague him throughout the decade, and Charles reported in January 1694 that Abingdon suffered badly from shortness of breath. Carmarthen was made Duke of Leeds that year, but a Whig attack on him for accepting bribes drove him from office in 1695. Abingdon was increasingly at odds with the Whig-dominated government; to this was added the old quarrel over the Danvers estates with his wife's brother-in-law, Lord Wharton, one of the members of theJunto.His refusal to sign theAssociationin 1696 gave grounds to dismiss him from his offices as Justice and Lord Lieutenant the following year.[2]

He made a second marriage to Catherine Chamberlayne, daughter of ReverendSir Thomas Chamberlayneand Margaret, daughter ofEdmund Prideaux,on 15 April 1698 atStanwell.[35]They had no children; Abingdon died at Westminster on 22 May 1699, and was succeeded in the Earldom by his eldest sonMontagu.He was buried at Rycote on 29 May.[35]His client,Robert Gould,wrote anecloguelamenting his death, which he dedicated to the Duke of Leeds.[2]

Legacy

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James Bertie was the namesake ofAbingdon Islandin theGalapagos Islands,[37]now renamed Isla Pinta byEcuador.

Notes

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  1. ^Cokayne, G.E.; Gibbs, Vicary; et al., eds. (2000).The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant.Vol. I (new ed.). Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing. p. 45.
  2. ^abcdefghijklmnopEagles, Robin."'A man subject to vapours': James Bertie, earl of Abingdon, and his brothers c.1670–1699 "(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 27 October 2015.Retrieved26 January2016.
  3. ^Lobel, Mary D,ed. (1957). "Parishes: Albury (with Tiddington)".A History of the County of Oxford.Vol. 5, Bullingdon Hundred. London: Victoria County History. pp. 8–14.Retrieved31 January2016.
  4. ^Lobel, Mary D, ed. (1959). "Parishes: Wendlebury".A History of the County of Oxford.Vol. 6, Ploughley Hundred. London: Victoria County History. pp. 338–346.Retrieved31 January2016.
  5. ^Lobel, Mary D, ed. (1959). "Parishes: Chesterton".A History of the County of Oxford.Vol. 6, Ploughley Hundred. London: Victoria County History. pp. 92–103.Retrieved31 January2016.
  6. ^Lobel, Mary D, ed. (1962). "Parishes: Dorchester".A History of the County of Oxford.Vol. 7, Dorchester and Thame Hundreds. London: Victoria County History. pp. 39–64.
  7. ^Lobel, Mary D, ed. (1962). "Parishes: Thame".A History of the County of Oxford.Vol. 7, Dorchester and Thame Hundreds. London: Victoria County History. pp. 160–178.
  8. ^Lobel, Mary D, ed. (1957). "Parishes: Beckley".A History of the County of Oxford.Vol. 5, Bullingdon Hundred. London: Victoria County History. pp. 56–76.Retrieved31 January2016.
  9. ^Page, William;Ditchfield, P H,eds. (1924). "Parishes: Wytham".A History of the County of Berkshire.Vol. 4. London: Victoria County History. pp. 427–430.Retrieved31 January2016.
  10. ^Page, William; Ditchfield, P H, eds. (1924). "Parishes: Cumnor".A History of the County of Berkshire.Vol. 4. London: Victoria County History. pp. 398–405.Retrieved31 January2016.
  11. ^Page, William; Ditchfield, P H, eds. (1924). "Parishes: Frilsham".A History of the County of Berkshire.Vol. 4. London: Victoria County History. pp. 70–73.Retrieved31 January2016.
  12. ^abB. W., Greenfield (1874).Howard, Joseph Jackson(ed.)."Wilmot and Lee".Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica.v. 1 n.s. London: Hamilton, Adams & Co.: 420–421.
  13. ^abBaggs, A P; Crowley, D A;Pugh, Ralph B;Stevenson, Janet H; Tomlinson, Margaret (1965). "Parishes: Rushall". In Crittall, Elizabeth (ed.).A History of the County of Wiltshire.Vol. 10, Swanborough Hundred and Devizes. London: Victoria County History. pp. 136–146.Retrieved6 February2016.
  14. ^abChettle, H F; Powell, W R; Spalding, P A; Tillott, P M (1953). "Parishes: West or Bishop's Lavington". InPugh, R B;Crittall, Elizabeth (eds.).A History of the County of Wiltshire.Vol. 7, Bradford, Melksham, and Potterne and Cannings Hundreds. London: Victoria County History. pp. 198–206.Retrieved31 January2016.
  15. ^Baggs, A P; Crowley, D A;Pugh, Ralph B;Stevenson, Janet H; Tomlinson, Margaret (1975). "Parishes: Marden". In Crittall, Elizabeth (ed.).A History of the County of Wiltshire.Vol. 10. London: Victoria County History. pp. 119–125.
  16. ^Baggs, A P; Crittall, Elizabeth; Freeman, Jane; Stevenson, Janet H (1980). "Parishes: Patney". In Crowley, D A (ed.).A History of the County of Wiltshire.Vol. 11, Downton Hundred, Elstub and Everleigh Hundred. London: Victoria County History. pp. 203–208.
  17. ^"Westbury: Manors".A History of the County of Wiltshire.Vol. 8, Warminster, Westbury and Whorwellsdown Hundreds. London: Victoria County History. 1965. pp. 148–163.
  18. ^Dunning, R W; Rogers, K H; Spalding, P A; Shrimpton, Colin; Stevenson, Janet H; Tomlinson, Margaret (1970). "Parishes: Lyneham". In Crittall, Elizabeth (ed.).A History of the County of Wiltshire.Vol. 9. London: Victoria County History. pp. 90–104.
  19. ^Collins, Arthur(1768).The Peerage of England.Vol. 3. pp. 473–475.
  20. ^Thomas 1970.
  21. ^Urban, Sylvanus, ed. (June 1753)."A List of Deaths for the Year 1753".Gentleman's Magazine.23:296.
  22. ^Lundy 2012,p. 917 § 9164 citesMosley 2003,p. 1124
  23. ^J.C. Sainty(1979).List of Lieutenants of Counties of England and Wales 1660–1974.London: Swift Printers (Sales) Ltd.
  24. ^Journal of the House of Lords.Vol. 12. London: HM Stationery Office. 1767–1830. pp. 652–656.
  25. ^abBrowning, Andrew (1913).Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby and Duke of Leeds.Oxford: B.H. Blackwell. pp. 40–43.
  26. ^Fox, John (2011).The King's Smuggler: Jane Whorwood, Secret Agent to Charles I.The History Press. p. 211.ISBN978-0752469034.
  27. ^Doyle, James William Edmund(1886).The Official Baronage of England, v. 1.London: Longmans, Green. p. 11.
  28. ^abcEleanor Chance, Christina Colvin, Janet Cooper, C J Day, T G Hassall, Mary Jessup and Nesta Selwyn (1979). "Early Modern Oxford". In Crossley, Alan;Elrington, C R(eds.).A History of the County of Oxford.Vol. 4, The City of Oxford. London: Victoria County History. pp. 74–180.Retrieved31 January2016.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. ^Walker, Peter (2010).James II and the Three Questions: Religious Toleration and the Landed Classes, 1687–1688.Peter Lang. pp. 75–76.ISBN978-3039119271.
  30. ^Clark, J. Kent (2004).Whig's Progress: Tom Wharton Between Revolutions.Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. pp. 215–216.ISBN0838639976.
  31. ^Clark, Andrew(1899).Antiquities of the City of Oxford.Vol. 3. Clarendon Press. p. 57.
  32. ^Childs, John (1980).The Army, James II, and the Glorious Revolution.Manchester University Press. p. 149.ISBN0719006880.
  33. ^Handley, Stuart (2002)."Berkshire".In Hayton, David;Cruickshanks, Eveline;Handley, Stuart (eds.).The House of Commons 1690–1715.The History of Parliament Trust.
  34. ^Handley, Stuart (2002)."Oxfordshire".In Hayton, David;Cruickshanks, Eveline;Handley, Stuart (eds.).The House of Commons 1690–1715.The History of Parliament Trust.
  35. ^abcCokayne, George E.(1910).Gibbs, Vicary(ed.).The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant.Vol. I, Ab-Adam to Basing. London: St. Catherine Press. p. 46.
  36. ^Hardy, William John, ed. (1903).Calendar of State Papers Domestic, of the Reign of William and Mary.Vol. 4. London. p. 348.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  37. ^McEwen, Alec (July 1988),"The English Place-Names of the Galápagos",The Geographical Journal,vol. 154, London: Royal Geographical Society, p. 237,doi:10.2307/633849,JSTOR633849.

References

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  • Lundy, Darryl (15 December 2012),James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon1,The Peerage, p. 917 § 9164endnotes:
    • Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003),'s Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage,vol. 1 (107th 3 volumes ed.), Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books), p. 1124
  • Thomas, Peter D.G. (1970),"Bertie, Hon. Henry (1675–1735).",in Sedgwick, R. (ed.),The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715–1754,Boydell and Brewer
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Wikimedia Commons has media related toJames Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon.
Legal offices
Preceded by Justice in Eyre
south of the Trent
1693–1697 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire
1674–1687 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire
1689–1697 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Custos Rotulorum of Oxfordshire
1689–1697
Peerage of England
New creation Earl of Abingdon
1682–1699 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Baron Norreys
c. 1657–1699
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