Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby
Encyclopedia
Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby PC
(1656 – 1 May 1729) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons
at various times from 1679 until 1716 when he was created a peer and sat in the House of Lords
of Hampton Court, Herefordshire
, and his wife Lettice Loftus, eldest daughter of Sir Arthur Loftus of Rathfarnham
, Ireland. He was the great-grandson of Sir Thomas Coningsby
.
In 1679, Coningsby was elected Member of Parliament
for Leominster
. He represented the constituency continuously until 1710, He was re-elected in 1715 and sat until his elevation to the British peerage.
, and opposed the Jacobite
faction. Coningsby accompanied William III
to Ireland, and at the battle of the Boyne
where the King was injured. He was appointed joint receiver and Paymaster-General
of the forces employed in the reduction of Ireland, and from 1690 to 1692 he acted as the junior of the three lords-justices of Ireland. It is said that he helped arragne the treaty of Limerick
. His political opponents accused him of having used his position for profiteering by the embezzlement
of stores, the appropriation of the estates of rebels, the sale of pardons, and dealings in illicit trade. Such charges were of slight moment so long as the royal influence was at his back. Through the king's favour he was created Baron Coningsby of Clanbrassil in Ireland on 17 April 1692, sworn as privy councillor on 13 April 1693, and pardoned under the great seal in May 1694 for any transgressions which he might have committed while in office in Ireland.
From 1695 to his death he held the office of chief steward of the city of Hereford, an appointment which involved him in a duel
with Lord Chandos
, another claimant of the post, "but no mischief was done". In April 1697 he received a grant under the Privy Seal
of several of the crown
manor
s in England, and in October 1698 he was again created the vice-treasurer and paymaster of the forces in Ireland.
's reign he acted consistently with the whigs
, but his services received slight acknowledgment even when his friends were in office. Godolphin
only wrote an occasional civil letter complimenting Lord Coningsby on 'his judgment and experience' in parliamentary affairs, and it was not until October 1708 that Coningsby was sworn of Anne's privy council. He was one of the managers of Henry Sacheverell
's trial, and, like most of the prominent whigs, he lost his seat in parliament as a result of the ensuing tory reaction.
acceded to the throne, Coningsby resumed his old position in public life, and enjoyed court favour. He was included in the select committee of twenty-one appointed to inquire into the negotiations for the treaty of Utrecht
, and, according to Prior
, was one of the three most inquisitive members of that body. As a result of their investigations, the impeachment of Bolingbroke
was moved by Robert Walpole
and that of Harley by Coningsby — a family feud had long existed between the two Herefordshire families of Harley and Coningsby — and Ormonde
's by Stanhope
. Two years later Harley was unanimously discharged, but this concord of opinion was only obtained by Coningsby and some others withdrawing from the proceedings. He was well rewarded for his zeal on behalf of the Hanoverian
succession. He became Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire
in November 1714, and Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire
in the following month.
Coningsby was granted a baron
y in the English peerage on 18 June 1716, and he was raised to a higher rank as Earl Coningsby
on 30 April 1719.
, the Lord Chancellor
, in connection with these legal worries, he was, as Swift
notes in his diary, committed to the Tower of London
on 27 February 1720. Coningsby's troubles in law arose from his purchase of the manors of Leominster and Marden
. After elaborate investigations, he convinced himself that the lord's rights had in many instances been trespassed upon by the copyhold
tenants. He caused ejectments to be brought against many persons for being in possession of estates as freehold which he claimed to be copyhold, and as these claims were resisted by the persons in possession, his last days were embittered by constant strife. His collections concerning Marden were printed in 1722–7 in a bulky tome, without any title-page, and with pagination of great irregularity, but were never published. When his right to the Marden property was disputed, all the copies of this work but a few were destroyed. Through his sharpness of temper he was exposed to the caustic sallies of Atterbury
in the House of Lords
, and to the satires of Swift and Pope
in their writings.
After having been in ill-health for some time, Coningsby died at Hampton Court Herefordshire on 1 May 1729. and was buried at Hope-under-Dinmore church in 1729, under a marble monument, on which the child's death is depicted in striking realism.
, a merchant from Barbados
. The marriage license was applied for to the vicar-general of the Archbishop of Canterbury
on 18 February 1674/5, when Coningsby was described as aged about nineteen, and Barbara Gorges was stated to be about eighteen years old. Gorges was considered to be a financial schemer who contrived to marry his eldest daughter to Coningsby in order to secure for himself some of the Coningsby estates. Gorges' financial scheming caused ruinous loss to his son-in-law, from which he never recovered and he eventually divorced Barbara Gorges by whom he had four daughters and three sons. His grandson by this marriage succeeded to the Irish barony, but died without issue on 18 December 1729. His second wife, whom he married in April 1698, was Lady Frances Jones, daughter of Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh
, by whom he had one son, Richard, who died at Hampton on 2 April 1708 when two years old, choked by a cherrystone; and two daughters, Margaret and Frances. The second countess was buried at Hope-under-Dinmore on 23 February 1715, aged 42.
The grant of his English peerage contained a remainder for the eldest daughter of his second marriage. Her issue male, John, the only child of this daughter, Margaret Newton, 2nd Countess Coningsby, by her husband Sir Michael Newton, died an infant, the victim of an accidental fall, said to have been caused through the fright of its nurse at seeing an ape, and on the mother's death in 1761 the title became extinct. The younger daughter of Lord Coningsby married Sir Charles Hanbury Williams
, a well-known satirical poet, and was buried in the chapel of St. Erasmus, Westminster Abbey
, in December 1781.
Privy Council of England
The Privy Council of England, also known as His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England...
(1656 – 1 May 1729) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons
House of Commons of England
The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...
at various times from 1679 until 1716 when he was created a peer and sat in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
Early life
Coningsby was the son of Humphrey ConingsbyHumphrey Coningsby
Humphrey Coningsby was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1641 to 1644. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War....
of Hampton Court, Herefordshire
Hampton Court, Herefordshire
Hampton Court is a castellated country house in the English county of Herefordshire. The house is located in the village of Hope under Dinmore, near Leominster.- History :...
, and his wife Lettice Loftus, eldest daughter of Sir Arthur Loftus of Rathfarnham
Rathfarnham
Rathfarnham or Rathfarnam is a Southside suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and 16. It is within the administrative areas of both Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin County Councils.The area of Rathfarnham...
, Ireland. He was the great-grandson of Sir Thomas Coningsby
Thomas Coningsby
Sir Thomas Coningsby was an English soldier and Member of Parliament, notable for his diary of military action in France in 1591.-Birth:...
.
In 1679, Coningsby was elected 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,...
for Leominster
Leominster (UK Parliament constituency)
Leominster was, until 2010, a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.From 1295 to 1868, it was a parliamentary borough which elected two Members of Parliament by the bloc vote system of election. Under the Reform Act 1867 its...
. He represented the constituency continuously until 1710, He was re-elected in 1715 and sat until his elevation to the British peerage.
William III
Coningsby was an ardent supporter of the revolution of 1688Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
, and opposed the Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
faction. Coningsby accompanied 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...
to Ireland, and at the battle of the Boyne
Battle of the Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thronesthe Catholic King James and the Protestant King William across the River Boyne near Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland...
where the King was injured. He was appointed joint receiver and Paymaster-General
Paymaster-General
HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom. The Paymaster General is in charge of the Office of HM Paymaster General , which held accounts at the Bank of England on behalf of Government departments and selected other public bodies...
of the forces employed in the reduction of Ireland, and from 1690 to 1692 he acted as the junior of the three lords-justices of Ireland. It is said that he helped arragne the treaty of Limerick
Treaty of Limerick
The Treaty of Limerick ended the Williamite war in Ireland between the Jacobites and the supporters of William of Orange. It concluded the Siege of Limerick. The treaty really consisted of two treaties which were signed on 3 October 1691. Reputedly they were signed on the Treaty Stone, an...
. His political opponents accused him of having used his position for profiteering by the embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
of stores, the appropriation of the estates of rebels, the sale of pardons, and dealings in illicit trade. Such charges were of slight moment so long as the royal influence was at his back. Through the king's favour he was created Baron Coningsby of Clanbrassil in Ireland on 17 April 1692, sworn as privy councillor on 13 April 1693, and pardoned under the great seal in May 1694 for any transgressions which he might have committed while in office in Ireland.
From 1695 to his death he held the office of chief steward of the city of Hereford, an appointment which involved him in a duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
with Lord Chandos
James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos
James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, MP, PC was the first of fourteen children by Sir James Brydges, 3rd Baronet of Wilton Castle, Sheriff of Herefordshire, 8th Baron Chandos; and Elizabeth Barnard...
, another claimant of the post, "but no mischief was done". In April 1697 he received a grant under the Privy Seal
Privy Seal
A privy seal refers to the personal seal of a reigning monarch, used for the purpose of authenticating official government document.-Privy Seal of England:The Privy Seal of England can be traced back to the reign of King John...
of several of the crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
s in England, and in October 1698 he was again created the vice-treasurer and paymaster of the forces in Ireland.
Anne
During Queen AnneAnne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
's reign he acted consistently with the whigs
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
, but his services received slight acknowledgment even when his friends were in office. Godolphin
Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin
Sir Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, KG, PC was a leading English politician of the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
only wrote an occasional civil letter complimenting Lord Coningsby on 'his judgment and experience' in parliamentary affairs, and it was not until October 1708 that Coningsby was sworn of Anne's privy council. He was one of the managers of Henry Sacheverell
Henry Sacheverell
Henry Sacheverell was an English High Church clergyman and politician.-Early life:The son of Joshua Sacheverell, rector of St Peter's, Marlborough,...
's trial, and, like most of the prominent whigs, he lost his seat in parliament as a result of the ensuing tory reaction.
George I
When George IGeorge I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
acceded to the throne, Coningsby resumed his old position in public life, and enjoyed court favour. He was included in the select committee of twenty-one appointed to inquire into the negotiations for the treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713...
, and, according to Prior
Matthew Prior
Matthew Prior was an English poet and diplomat.Prior was the son of a Nonconformist joiner at Wimborne Minster, East Dorset. His father moved to London, and sent him to Westminster School, under Dr. Busby. On his father's death, he left school, and was cared for by his uncle, a vintner in Channel...
, was one of the three most inquisitive members of that body. As a result of their investigations, the impeachment of Bolingbroke
Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke
Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically despite his atheism. In 1715 he supported the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 which sought to overthrow the...
was moved by Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
and that of Harley by Coningsby — a family feud had long existed between the two Herefordshire families of Harley and Coningsby — and Ormonde
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde KG KT was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the third of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom of Ormonde...
's by Stanhope
James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope
James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope PC was a British statesman and soldier who effectively served as Chief Minister between 1717 and 1721. He is probably best remembered for his service during War of the Spanish Succession...
. Two years later Harley was unanimously discharged, but this concord of opinion was only obtained by Coningsby and some others withdrawing from the proceedings. He was well rewarded for his zeal on behalf of the Hanoverian
House of Hanover
The House of Hanover is a deposed German royal dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , the Kingdom of Hanover, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
succession. He became Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire
Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire
This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire. Before the English Civil War, the lieutenancy of Herefordshire was always held by the Lord Lieutenant of Wales, but after the Restoration, its lieutenants were appointed separately...
in November 1714, and Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire
Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire
This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Radnorshire. After 1715, all Lord Lieutenants were also Custos Rotulorum of Radnorshire...
in the following month.
Coningsby was granted a baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
y in the English peerage on 18 June 1716, and he was raised to a higher rank as Earl Coningsby
Earl Coningsby
Earl Coningsby was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1719 for Thomas Coningsby, 1st Baron Coningsby, with remainder to his eldest daughter , Margaret Newton, 1st Viscountess Coningsby, and the heirs male of her body. He was the great-grandson of the soldier and politician...
on 30 April 1719.
Legal difficulties and death
In the later years of his life Coningsby suffered many difficulties. He was a widower, without any male heir, and subject to innumerable lawsuits. For some severe reflections on Lord HarcourtSimon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt
Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, PC was Queen Anne's Lord Chancellor of Great Britain. He was her solicitor-general and her commissioner for arranging the union with Scotland...
, the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
, in connection with these legal worries, he was, as Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
notes in his diary, committed to the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
on 27 February 1720. Coningsby's troubles in law arose from his purchase of the manors of Leominster and Marden
Marden, Herefordshire
Marden is a village and civil parish in the English county of Herefordshire.Marden is some due north of the city of Hereford. It is contiguous with the hamlets of Walker's Green and Paradise Green....
. After elaborate investigations, he convinced himself that the lord's rights had in many instances been trespassed upon by the copyhold
Copyhold
At its origin in medieval England, copyhold tenure was tenure of land according to the custom of the manor, the "title deeds" being a copy of the record of the manorial court....
tenants. He caused ejectments to be brought against many persons for being in possession of estates as freehold which he claimed to be copyhold, and as these claims were resisted by the persons in possession, his last days were embittered by constant strife. His collections concerning Marden were printed in 1722–7 in a bulky tome, without any title-page, and with pagination of great irregularity, but were never published. When his right to the Marden property was disputed, all the copies of this work but a few were destroyed. Through his sharpness of temper he was exposed to the caustic sallies of Atterbury
Francis Atterbury
Francis Atterbury was an English man of letters, politician and bishop.-Early life:He was born at Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, where his father was rector. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he became a tutor...
in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, and to the satires of Swift and Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
in their writings.
After having been in ill-health for some time, Coningsby died at Hampton Court Herefordshire on 1 May 1729. and was buried at Hope-under-Dinmore church in 1729, under a marble monument, on which the child's death is depicted in striking realism.
Family
Coningsby married Barbara Gorges, daughter of Ferdinando Gorges, of Eye HerefordshireHerefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
, a merchant from Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
. The marriage license was applied for to the vicar-general of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
on 18 February 1674/5, when Coningsby was described as aged about nineteen, and Barbara Gorges was stated to be about eighteen years old. Gorges was considered to be a financial schemer who contrived to marry his eldest daughter to Coningsby in order to secure for himself some of the Coningsby estates. Gorges' financial scheming caused ruinous loss to his son-in-law, from which he never recovered and he eventually divorced Barbara Gorges by whom he had four daughters and three sons. His grandson by this marriage succeeded to the Irish barony, but died without issue on 18 December 1729. His second wife, whom he married in April 1698, was Lady Frances Jones, daughter of Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh
Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh
Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh PC FRS , known as The Viscount Ranelagh between 1669 and 1677, was an Irish peer, politician both in the Parliaments of England and Ireland.-Background:...
, by whom he had one son, Richard, who died at Hampton on 2 April 1708 when two years old, choked by a cherrystone; and two daughters, Margaret and Frances. The second countess was buried at Hope-under-Dinmore on 23 February 1715, aged 42.
The grant of his English peerage contained a remainder for the eldest daughter of his second marriage. Her issue male, John, the only child of this daughter, Margaret Newton, 2nd Countess Coningsby, by her husband Sir Michael Newton, died an infant, the victim of an accidental fall, said to have been caused through the fright of its nurse at seeing an ape, and on the mother's death in 1761 the title became extinct. The younger daughter of Lord Coningsby married Sir Charles Hanbury Williams
Charles Hanbury Williams
Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, KB , diplomat, writer and satirist, son of John Hanbury, a Welsh ironmaster, assumed the name of Williams on succeeding to the estate of his godfather Charles Williams, in 1720....
, a well-known satirical poet, and was buried in the chapel of St. Erasmus, Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, in December 1781.