Early life

Edwin was born at Hereford

Hereford

Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...

, the only son of William Edwin, twice mayor of Hereford, by his wife, Anne, of the family of Mansfield. He came to 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...

, and in or before 1670 married Elizabeth, the daughter of Samuel Sambrooke, a wealthy London merchant of the ward of Bassishaw

Bassishaw

Bassishaw is a ward in the City of London. This small ward is bounded on the east by Coleman Street ward, to the south by Cheap ward, to the north by Cripplegate ward, and on the west by Aldersgate ward...

, and sister of Sir Jeremy Sambrooke. He began business as a merchant in Great St. Helen's. He later moved to the neighbouring parish of St. Peter-le-Poor, where his son Samuel was living at the time of his marriage in September 1697. Marriage and success in trade (probably as a wool merchant) brought him wealth.

In office under James II

In 1678 he was admitted a freeman of the Barber-Surgeons' Company by redemption, becoming afterwards an assistant of the company, and master in 1688. In 1694, however, he was dismissed from the office of assistant for his continued non-attendance at the court meetings. He afterwards became a member of the company of Skinners. Edwin was a nonconformist; James II

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...

 was anxious to conciliate the dissenters, and on 11 October 1687 he was sworn in as alderman of Tower ward, on the direct appointment of the king, in the place of Sir John Chapman, discharged by the royal mandate. On 18 November the king knighted him at Whitehall

Whitehall

Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...

, and a few weeks later appointed him High Sheriff of Glamorgan

High Sheriff of Glamorgan

This page is a list of High Sheriffs of Glamorgan. Sheriffs of Glamorgan served under and were answerable to the independent Lords of Glamorgan until that lordship was merged into the crown. This is in contrast to sheriffs of the English shires who were from the earliest times officers of the crown...

 for the ensuing year. It was probably before this that he had purchased the estate and mansion of Llanmihangel Plas in Glamorganshire, from Sir Robert Thomas, bart., the last of a line of manorial lords of that name.

In August 1688 Edwin was chosen Sheriff of London and Middlesex

High Sheriff of Middlesex

This is a list of High Sheriffs of Middlesex.-History of the office:From c.1131–1889 there was no separate sheriff for the county. By a charter of Henry I the livery of the City of London were given the right to elect two sheriffs of "London and Middlesex" on a payment of £300 per annum to...

, entering upon his duties on 11 October following. The year was an eventful one. In December Edwin, with his colleague and the aldermen of London, attended the Prince of Orange

Prince of Orange

Prince of Orange is a title of nobility, originally associated with the Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France. In French it is la Principauté d'Orange....

 on his entry into London, and took part in February in the proclamation of the king and queen in Cheapside

Cheapside

Cheapside is a street in the City of London that links Newgate Street with the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Mansion House Street. To the east is Mansion House, the Bank of England, and the major road junction above Bank tube station. To the west is St. Paul's Cathedral, St...

 and at the Royal Exchange. On 25 October Edwin was elected alderman of the ward of Cheap, in succession to William Kiffen, the baptist minister, who suffered under James II, but he again moved, 22 October 1689, to Tower ward, which he continued to represent until his death.

He and six others were appointed by the king, in April 1689, commissioners of excise, but in the following September all were dismissed excepting Edwin and Sir Henry Ashurst, and other wealthy citizens were appointed in their place. Edwin continued to hold the office until April 1691.

Under William and Mary

Edwin took a prominent part in the military affairs of the city. Besides being an officer of the Honourable Artillery Company

Honourable Artillery Company

The Honourable Artillery Company was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII. Today it is a Registered Charity whose purpose is to attend to the “better defence of the realm"...

, he became captain of the regiment of horse volunteers, a corps of four hundred citizens, established in July 1689 and maintained at their own expense, with the king as their colonel and the Earl of Monmouth

Earl of Monmouth

Earl of Monmouth was a title that was created twice in the Peerage of England. The title was first created for English courtier Robert Carey, 1st Baron Carey in 1626. He had already been created Baron Carey, of Leppington, in 1622, also in the Peerage of England. The titles became extinct upon the...

 as lieutenant-colonel. He was also colonel of a regiment of the trained bands; but in March 1690, on the churchmen becoming a majority in the court of lieutenancy, Edwin and five other aldermen who held nonconformist opinions, were turned out, and five others belonging to the church party chosen in their places.

In the following year Edwin was the victim of a prosecution conducted by Sir Bartholomew Shower. He was indicted for perjury

Perjury

Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...

, and a true bill found against him in November 1691 by the grand jury of Ossulston Hundred in Middlesex

Middlesex

Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...

; but on his trial in the following February he was acquitted. In a contemporary pamphlet the prosecution is described as 'so unjust that the L. C. J. Holt, seeing it proceeded from the depth of malice, would not suffer Sir Humphry to swear all his witnesses, there being no need of any further proofs at his trial'.

Lord Mayor and controversy

Edwin owned extensive property in Westminster

Westminster

Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...

, adjoining Westminster Hall and the clock house.. He also had a town house at Kensington, and added to his Glamorganshire property by the possession of the castle

Ogmore Castle

Ogmore Castle is located near the village of Ogmore-by-Sea, south of the town of Bridgend in Glamorgan, South Wales. It is situated on the south bank of the River Ewenny and the east bank of the River Ogmore. Cowbridge is nearby. Its construction might have begun in 1106...

 and lordship of Ogmore

Ogmore

Ogmore may refer to several places in south and southwest Wales:*Ogmore-by-Sea, a village in southwest Wales*River Ogmore, a river in south Wales*Ogmore Castle, a castle in south Wales*Ogmore , south Wales...

, the lease of which was renewed to him in 1702. In September 1697 Samuel, the eldest son of Sir Humphrey, was married to Lady Catherine Montague, daughter of the Earl of Manchester, and on the 30th of the same month Edwin was elected lord mayor, the customary mayoralty pageant being omitted, owing perhaps to his religious principles. Shortly after his accession to office (6 November 1697) William III

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...

, who returned home after the treaty of Ryswick

Treaty of Ryswick

The Treaty of Ryswick or Ryswyck was signed on 20 September 1697 and named after Ryswick in the Dutch Republic. The treaty settled the Nine Years' War, which pitted France against the Grand Alliance of England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the United Provinces.Negotiations started in May...

, made a magnificent public entry into London. The reception was the grandest spectacle witnessed in the city since the English 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...

.

Attendance at nonconformist gatherings

Soon after his election Edwin gave offence by attending a nonconformist worship on the afternoons of Sunday, 31 October and 7 November, in full civic state. A meeting of the court of aldermen was held on Tuesday, 9 November, to consider a complaint of the sword-bearer against the lord mayor for compelling his attendance on the occasion: Edwin had been deserted by all his officers except the sword-bearer, who was locked in a pew

Pew

A pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, or sometimes in a courtroom.-Overview:Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the Protestant Reformation...

. His lordship promised to forbear the practice for the future, and it was ordered 'that the like practice shall not be used for the time to come'. A letter written 11 November states that the meeting-house attended by the lord mayor was More's. Walter Wilson

Walter Wilson (biographer)

Walter Wilson was an English biographer of nonconformist clergy and their churches.-Life:He was born about 1781, the illegitimate son of John Walter, the newspaper publisher. He was brought up a Presbyterian, and went to work at East India House as a clerk. In 1802 he went into journalism, and in...

 and others state that it was Pinners' Hall; a contemporary skit, 'A Dialogue between Jack and Will,' describes it as Salters' Hall. Gilbert Burnet

Gilbert Burnet

Gilbert Burnet was a Scottish theologian and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Burnet was respected as a cleric, a preacher, and an academic, as well as a writer and historian...

 states that the bill for preventing occasional conformity had its origin in Edwin's state visit to Pinners' Hall (Hist. V. 49).

Contemporary reactions

Edwin's actions roused the High Church

High church

The term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...

 party, brought out the pamphleteers, and caused a longer literary controversy.

A young clergyman named Edward Oliver, preaching before Edwin in St. Paul's Cathedral towards the close of his mayoralty (22 October 1698), declaimed against the nonconformist mode of worship. The sermon soon appeared in print and was answered by a pamphlet

Pamphlet

A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...

, of which two editions were published, entitled 'A Rowland for an Oliver, or a Sharp Rebuke for a Saucy Levite.... By a Lover of Unity.' Edwin had also to face the ridicule of the stage and the lampoons of the wits of the day. Two brochures were preserved in the Guildhall Library

Guildhall Library

The Guildhall Library is administered by the Corporation of London, the government of the City of London, which is the historical heart of London, England. It was founded in the 1420s under the terms of the will of Lord Mayor Dick Whittington...

: 'A Dialogue betwixt Jack and Will concerning the Lord Mayor's going to Meeting-houses, with the Sword carried before him,' London, 1697, and 'The Puritanical Justice, or the Beggars turn'd Thieves,' London, 1698.

William Penkethman

William Penkethman

William Penkethman was an English comic actor and theatre manager.Penkethman acted from the 1690s with the United Company at Drury Lane.-References:...

, in his comedy of Love without Interest, 1699, made the following allusion: 'If you'll compound for a catch, I'll sing you one of my Lord Mayor's going to Pin-makers Hall to hear a sniveling non-conseparatist divine divide and subdivide into the two and thirty points of the compass.' Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...

, in his Tale of a Tub, by way of satirising the toleration of dissenters, states that Jack's tatters are coming into fashion both in court and city, and describes Edwin under the name of Jack getting upon a great horse and eating custard. A satiric print illustrating the text is given in the fifth edition of the Tale of a Tub; the scene is Ludgate Hill

Ludgate Hill

Ludgate Hill is a hill in the City of London, near the old Ludgate, a gate to the City that was taken down, with its attached gaol, in 1780. Ludgate Hill is the site of St Paul's Cathedral, traditionally said to have been the site of a Roman temple of the goddess Diana. It is one of the three...

, showing the gate, with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background. Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...

 wrote a pamphlet bearing the title 'An Enquiry into the Occasional Conformity of Dissenters in Cases of Preferment; with a Preface to the Lord Mayor, occasioned by his carrying the Sword to a Conventicle,' London, 1697.

In the longer run, William Nicholls

William Nicholls

William Nicholls was an English clergyman and theologian, known as an author on the Book of Common Prayer.-Life:He was the son of John Nicholls of Donington, now Dunton, Buckinghamshire. He was educated at St Paul's School under Thomas Gale, and went up with an exhibition to Magdalen Hall, Oxford,...

 attacked nonconformism in his Apparatus for the Defensio Ecclesiae Anglicanae, and was answered by James Peirce

James Peirce

James Peirce was an English dissenting minister, the catalyst for the Salter's Hall controversy.-Early life:The son of John Peirce, he was born at Wapping about 1674. His parents, who were in easy circumstances, were members of the congregational church at Stepney, under Matthew Mead...

 (Vindication of the Dissenters, pt. i. p. 276) and by Edmund Calamy

Edmund Calamy (historian)

Edmund Calamy was an English Nonconformist churchman, divine and historian.-Life:A grandson of Edmund Calamy the Elder, he was born in the City of London, in the parish of St Mary Aldermanbury. He was sent to various schools, including Merchant Taylors', and in 1688 proceeded to the university of...

 (Abridgment, i. 561).

End of term

The remainder of Edwin's mayoralty passed off without event. Many corporate offices fell vacant during the year, by which he received the sum of £4,000. Towards the end of May he temporarily retired through illness, with the king's leave, to his house at Kensington

Kensington

Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...

, Sir Robert Clayton filling his place in his absence.

Death

Edwin died on 14 December 1707 at his seat in Llanmihangel, where a monument to his memory was set up in the parish church. His widow died in London on 22 November 1714, and was subsequently buried beside him at Llanmihangel.

Legacy

He left no will, but administration was granted to his son Charles on 19 February 1708. Towards the erection of the London workhouse

Workhouse

In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...

, which was begun in his mayoralty, he gave £100 and a pack of wool.

Family

His four eldest children were: Samuel, baptised 12 March 1671; Humphrey, 24 February 1673; Thomas, 4 July 1676; and Charles, 7 February 1677 (St. Helen's, Bishopsgate

Bishopsgate

Bishopsgate is a road and ward in the northeast part of the City of London, extending north from Gracechurch Street to Norton Folgate. It is named after one of the original seven gates in London Wall...

, Reg. of Baptisms). Besides these, Edwin had four daughters and a fifth son, John, from whom were descended the later Earls of Crawford and Balcarres

Earl of Crawford

The title Earl of Crawford is one of the most ancient extant titles in Great Britain, having been created in the Peerage of Scotland for Sir David Lindsay in 1398. It is the premier earldom recorded on the Union Roll.The title has a very complex history...

.

Of his two sisters, Mary, the younger, became the wife of Sir Edward Dering, who in 1701 wrote a book bewailing her death entitled 'The most excellent Maria, in a brief character of her incomparable virtues and goodness.'