Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of Saint Albans KGThe Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry, or knighthood, originating in medieval England, and presently bestowed on recipients in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms; it is the pinnacle of the honours system in the United Kingdom...
(c. 1604-January 1684), was the third son of Sir Thomas Jermyn (1573-1645) of
RushbrookeRushbrooke is a small village which has become a suburb of the town of Cobh on the Great Island in Cork Harbour, Ireland.The area is named after Lord Rushbrooke, who originally owned most of the property in the area...
,
SuffolkSuffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. At an early age he won the favour of
Henrietta Maria of FranceHenrietta Maria of France ; was the Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles I....
, Queen consort of
Charles I of EnglandCharles I, , the second son of James VI of Scotland and I of England, was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Charles famously engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England...
whose vice-chamberlain he became in 1628, and
Master of the HorseThe Master of the Horse was a historical position of varying importance in several European nations.-The Roman Master of the Horse :...
in 1639.
He was a consummate
courtierA courtier is a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together. Monarchs very often expected the more important nobles...
, a man of dissolute morals, and much addicted to
gamblingGambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period....
. He was a member of Parliament for
BodminBodmin was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall from 1295 until 1983. Initially it was a parliamentary borough, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until the 1868 general election, when its representation was...
from 1625 to 1626.
Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of Saint Albans KGThe Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry, or knighthood, originating in medieval England, and presently bestowed on recipients in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms; it is the pinnacle of the honours system in the United Kingdom...
(c. 1604-January 1684), was the third son of Sir Thomas Jermyn (1573-1645) of
RushbrookeRushbrooke is a small village which has become a suburb of the town of Cobh on the Great Island in Cork Harbour, Ireland.The area is named after Lord Rushbrooke, who originally owned most of the property in the area...
,
SuffolkSuffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. At an early age he won the favour of
Henrietta Maria of FranceHenrietta Maria of France ; was the Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles I....
, Queen consort of
Charles I of EnglandCharles I, , the second son of James VI of Scotland and I of England, was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Charles famously engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England...
whose vice-chamberlain he became in 1628, and
Master of the HorseThe Master of the Horse was a historical position of varying importance in several European nations.-The Roman Master of the Horse :...
in 1639.
He was a consummate
courtierA courtier is a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together. Monarchs very often expected the more important nobles...
, a man of dissolute morals, and much addicted to
gamblingGambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period....
. He was a member of Parliament for
BodminBodmin was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall from 1295 until 1983. Initially it was a parliamentary borough, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until the 1868 general election, when its representation was...
from 1625 to 1626. He was member for Bury St Edmunds in the
Long ParliamentThe Long Parliament is the name of the English Parliament called by Charles I, 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...
and an active and reckless
royalistCavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I during the English Civil War . Prince Rupert, commander of much of Charles I's cavalry, is often considered an archetypical Cavalier.-Early usage:...
. He took a prominent part in the army plot of 1641, and on its discovery fled to
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. Returning to the
Kingdom of EnglandThe Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state and island country to the northwest of continental Europe. At its zenith, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands—what is today the legal unit of...
in 1643, he resumed his personal attendance on the queen, and after being raised to the
peerageThe Peerage is a system of titles in the United Kingdom, which represents the upper ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system. The term is used both collectively to refer to the entire body of titles, and individually to refer to a specific title...
as Baron Jermyn of St Edmundsbury in that year, he accompanied Henrietta Maria in 1644 to France, where he continued to act as her secretary.
In the same year he was made governor of
JerseyThe Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes the nearly uninhabited islands of the Minquiers, Écréhous, the Pierres de Lecq and other rocks and reefs. Together with the bailiwick of Guernsey...
, whence he conducted the
Prince of WalesCharles II was the King 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. The English Parliament did not proclaim Charles II king at this time. Instead they passed a statute making such a...
to
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He conceived the idea of ceding the
Channel IslandsThe Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
to
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
as the price of French aid to Charles against the parliament; and in other respects he meddled with foreign politics, his great influence with the queen being a continual embarrassment to royalist statesmen, especially after the execution of Charles I.
When
Charles IICharles II was the King 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. The English Parliament did not proclaim Charles II king at this time. Instead they passed a statute making such a...
went to Breda, Jermyn remained in Paris with Henrietta Maria, who persuaded her son to create him Earl of
St AlbansSt Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It was a settlement of pre-Roman origin named Verlamion by the Ancient British, Catuvellauni tribe...
around 1660. Gossip which the historian
Hallam-Places:* Hallamshire, an area in South Yorkshire, England; the source of the name for:** Hallam F.C. - a non-league football club in Sheffield.** Hallam FM, a radio station based in Sheffield.** Royal Hallamshire Hospital...
accepted as authentic, but which is supported by no real evidence, asserted that Jermyn was secretly married to the widow of Charles I.
At the
RestorationThe English Restoration, often shortened to the Restoration, began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Commonwealth of England that followed the English Civil War...
St Albans became
Lord ChamberlainThe Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
, and received other appointments. He supported the policy of friendship with France, and he contributed largely to the close secret understanding between Charles II and
Louis XIV of FranceLouis XIV , popularly known as the Sun King , was King of France and of Navarre His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days, and is the longest documented reign of any European monarch.Louis began personally governing France after the death...
, being instrumental in arranging the preliminaries of the Treaty of Dover in 1669. In 1664 he obtained a grant of land in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
near
St James's PalaceSt. James's Palace is one of London's oldest palaces. It is situated in Pall Mall, just north of St. James's Park. Although no sovereign has resided there for almost two centuries, it is considered the most senior royal palace in the UK and gives its name to the Royal Court St. James's Palace is...
, where
Jermyn StreetJermyn Street is a street in the City of Westminster, central London, to the south, parallel and adjacent to Piccadilly.It is well known as a street where the shops are almost exclusively aimed at the Gentleman's market and is famous for its resident shirtmakers Jermyn Street is a street in the...
preserves the memory of his name, and where he built the St Albans market on a site afterwards cleared for the construction of
Regent StreetRegent Street is one of the major shopping streets in London's West End, well known to tourists and Londoners alike, and famous for its Christmas illuminations...
and Waterloo Place.
The Earl, who was a friend and patron of
Abraham CowleyAbraham Cowley was an English poet born in the City of London late in 1618. He was one of the leading English poets of the seventeenth century, with 14 printings of his Works published between 1668 and 1721....
, died in
St James's SquareSt. James's Square is the only square in the exclusive St James's district of the City of Westminster. It has predominantly Georgian and neo-Georgian architecture and a private garden in the centre...
, for the building of which he had provided the plan in January 1684. St Albans being unmarried, the earldom became extinct at his death, while the barony of Jermyn of St Edmundsbury passed by special remainder, together with his property, to his nephew Thomas Jermyn (1633-1703), and after the latter's death to Thomas's brother
Henry Baron DoverHenry Jermyn, 3rd Baron Jermyn and 1st Baron Dover PC , was the second son of Sir Thomas Jermyn, of Rushbrooke, Suffolk, who died in 1659....
.