Francis Leigh, 1st Earl of Chichester
Encyclopedia
Francis Leigh, 1st Earl of Chichester (died 21 December 1653) was a Royalist
politician and courtier around the period of the English Civil War
.
His father was the Member of Parliament
(MP), Sir Francis Leigh
KB (died 1625); his mother was daughter of Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley
. He was born, and eventually buried, on the family estate at Newnham Regis
, Warwickshire
. In 1613 Leigh attended Oxford University and was admitted to Lincoln's Inn
two years later.
Coinciding with his fortuitous second marriage, he was knighted by 1618, and was created a baronet
by the King on 24 December 1618. In 1621 he became MP for Warwickshire
in the by-election following the elevation of the incumbent
, Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke
, to the peerage
. In 1625 he subsequently became MP for Warwick
. He remained close to Lord Brooke and, under King Charles I
, was himself raised to the peerage as Baron Dunsmore in July 1628.
He opposed the King during the 1640 Short Parliament
and actively campaigned for the summoning of the second (Long)
parliament later that year. Despite this he was appointed to meet the Scottish commissioners at Ripon
in autumn 1640 and his opposition was further softened by both the militancy of the King's enemies and personal encouragement from Charles. His appointment as a privy councillor confirmed to all his defection to Charles' side. In March 1642 he was one of five lords to protest against the Militia Ordinance
. At the commencement of the First English Civil War
he financed a Royalist
troop of forty horse.
In August 1642 his Warwickshire estate was looted by Parliament
forces from Coventry
(ironically, under the command of the new Lord Brooke
). In 1643 he succeeded The Earl of Salisbury
as Captain of the Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners. In July 1644 the King further rewarded his loyalty creating him Earl of Chichester
.
He was a negotiator for Charles with the Parliamentary side at Uxbridge in February 1645. Later that year he was on the commission appointed to govern Oxford
during the king's absence.
In November 1645 he was assessed to contribute £3,000 ( a figure comparable to his pre-war yearly income) by the Committee for the Advance of Money
and given a year to pay. By January 1647 he had paid £1,000 and given security for £1847 more so his sequestration was suspended. Under the Ordnance of 30 October 1646 parliament annulled the honours granted to him since 20 May 1642. And finally, in 1650, the committee for compounding assessed a fine of £3,594 on him. Leigh died at Apps Court in Surrey
in 1763.
's favourite George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
. The couple had two daughters.
His eldest daughter, Lady Elizabeth Leigh , married Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton
who inherited the Earldom of Chichester on Leigh's death. Their only child, Lady Elizabeth Wriothesley would marry Joceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland
.
His second daughter, Mary married George Villiers, 4th Viscount Grandison. Their granddaughter, Harriet Villiers, was mother of Pitt the Elder
.
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...
politician and courtier around the period of the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
.
His father was the 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), Sir Francis Leigh
Francis Leigh (died 1625)
Sir Francis Leigh was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1597 and 1622.Leigh was the eldest of Sir William Leigh of Newnham Regis and his wife Frances Harrington, daughter of Sir James Harington of Exton, Rutland. He entered Middle Temple in 1597 and in the same year was...
KB (died 1625); his mother was daughter of Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley
Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley
Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley PC was an English Nobleman, Judge and Statesman who served as Lord Keeper and Lord Chancellor for twenty-one years.-Early life, education and legal career:...
. He was born, and eventually buried, on the family estate at Newnham Regis
King's Newnham
King's Newnham is a hamlet and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire.It lost its population as a result of enclosures of the former Royal Manor. Its parish church, St Laurence's, was partially demolished in 1795...
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
. In 1613 Leigh attended Oxford University and was admitted to Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
two years later.
Coinciding with his fortuitous second marriage, he was knighted by 1618, and was created a baronet
Leigh Baronets
There have been six Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Leigh, two in the Baronetage of England, one in the Baronetage of Ireland, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain and two in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom...
by the King on 24 December 1618. In 1621 he became MP for Warwickshire
Warwickshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Warwickshire was a parliamentary constituency in the Warwickshire in England. It returned two Members of Parliament , traditionall known as knights of the shire, to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.-Boundaries and franchise:The...
in the by-election following the elevation of the incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
, Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke
Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke
Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, de jure 13th Baron Latimer and 5th Baron Willoughby de Broke , known before 1621 as Sir Fulke Greville, was an Elizabethan poet, dramatist, and statesman....
, to the peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
. In 1625 he subsequently became MP for Warwick
Warwick (UK Parliament constituency)
Warwick was a parliamentary borough consisting of the town of Warwick, within the larger Warwickshire constituency of England. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England from 1295 to 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and then to the...
. He remained close to Lord Brooke and, under 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 himself raised to the peerage as Baron Dunsmore in July 1628.
He opposed the King during the 1640 Short Parliament
Short Parliament
The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....
and actively campaigned for the summoning of the second (Long)
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...
parliament later that year. Despite this he was appointed to meet the Scottish commissioners at Ripon
Treaty of Ripon
The Treaty of Ripon was an agreement signed by Charles I, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the Scottish Covenanters on 26 October 1640, in the aftermath of the Second Bishops' War...
in autumn 1640 and his opposition was further softened by both the militancy of the King's enemies and personal encouragement from Charles. His appointment as a privy councillor confirmed to all his defection to Charles' side. In March 1642 he was one of five lords to protest against the Militia Ordinance
Militia Ordinance
The Militia Ordinance was a piece of legislation passed by the Long Parliament of England in March 1642, which was a major step towards the Civil War between the King and Parliament of England. Previously the King had the sole right to appoint the Lord Lieutenants, who were in charge of the county...
. At the commencement of 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...
he financed a 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...
troop of forty horse.
In August 1642 his Warwickshire estate was looted by Parliament
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
forces from Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
(ironically, under the command of the new Lord Brooke
Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke
Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke was an English Civil War Roundhead General.Greville was the cousin and adopted son of Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, and thus became 2nd Lord Brooke, and owner of Warwick Castle. He was born in 1607, and entered parliament for Warwickshire in 1628...
). In 1643 he succeeded The Earl of Salisbury
William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury
William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, KG , known as Viscount Cranborne from 1605 to 1612, was an English peer and politician.-Early years, 1591-1612:...
as Captain of the Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners. In July 1644 the King further rewarded his loyalty creating him Earl of Chichester
Earl of Chichester
Earl of Chichester is a title that has been created three times in British history. It was created for the first time in the Peerage of England in 1644 when Francis Leigh, 1st Baron Dunsmore, was made Earl of Chichester, in the County of Sussex, with remainder to his son-in-law Thomas Wriothesley,...
.
He was a negotiator for Charles with the Parliamentary side at Uxbridge in February 1645. Later that year he was on the commission appointed to govern 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...
during the king's absence.
In November 1645 he was assessed to contribute £3,000 ( a figure comparable to his pre-war yearly income) by the Committee for the Advance of Money
Committee for the Advance of Money
On 26 November 1642 the Committee for the Advance of Money for the Service of the Parliament was established at Haberdashers Hall under Lord Howard of Escrick...
and given a year to pay. By January 1647 he had paid £1,000 and given security for £1847 more so his sequestration was suspended. Under the Ordnance of 30 October 1646 parliament annulled the honours granted to him since 20 May 1642. And finally, in 1650, the committee for compounding assessed a fine of £3,594 on him. Leigh died at Apps Court in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
in 1763.
Family
He married twice within a year his first wife, Susan Banning née Northam, dying childless. His second marriage on 31 July 1617 was to the widow Audrey, daughter of Baron Boteler of Brantfield and niece of James IJames I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
's favourite George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
. The couple had two daughters.
His eldest daughter, Lady Elizabeth Leigh , married Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton
Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton
Sir Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, KG , styled Lord Wriothesley before 1624, was a 17th century English statesman, a staunch supporter of Charles II who would rise to the position of Lord High Treasurer after the English Restoration...
who inherited the Earldom of Chichester on Leigh's death. Their only child, Lady Elizabeth Wriothesley would marry Joceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland
Joceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland
Josceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland, 5th Baron Percy was an English peer.Percy was the eldest son of Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland and his second wife, Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk...
.
His second daughter, Mary married George Villiers, 4th Viscount Grandison. Their granddaughter, Harriet Villiers, was mother of Pitt the Elder
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was a British Whig statesman who led Britain during the Seven Years' War...
.