William Blathwayt (or
Blathwayte) (1649?-August 1717) was a civil servant and politician who established the
War OfficeThe War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1963, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
as a department of the British Government and played an important part in administering the
Thirteen ColoniesThe Thirteen Colonies were part of what became known as British America, a name that was used by Great Britain until the Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the original thirteen United States of America in 1783...
of
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
.
Born in the parish of
St Martin-in-the-FieldsSt. Martin-in-the-Fields is an Anglican church at the northeast corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Its patron is Saint Martin of Tours.-Roman era:Excavations at the site in 2006 led to the discovery of a grave dated about 410...
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...
, Blathwayt was born to a well-to-do family of Protestant merchants and lawyers. His father, William Blathwayt senior, was educated at
Brasenose College, OxfordBrasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
and attended the
Middle TempleThe Honourable Society of the Middle Temple is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn. It is near the Royal Courts of Justice, within the City of London.In the 13th...
.
William Blathwayt (or
Blathwayte) (1649?-August 1717) was a civil servant and politician who established the
War OfficeThe War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1963, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
as a department of the British Government and played an important part in administering the
Thirteen ColoniesThe Thirteen Colonies were part of what became known as British America, a name that was used by Great Britain until the Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the original thirteen United States of America in 1783...
of
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
.
Born in the parish of
St Martin-in-the-FieldsSt. Martin-in-the-Fields is an Anglican church at the northeast corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Its patron is Saint Martin of Tours.-Roman era:Excavations at the site in 2006 led to the discovery of a grave dated about 410...
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...
, Blathwayt was born to a well-to-do family of Protestant merchants and lawyers. His father, William Blathwayt senior, was educated at
Brasenose College, OxfordBrasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
and attended the
Middle TempleThe Honourable Society of the Middle Temple is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn. It is near the Royal Courts of Justice, within the City of London.In the 13th...
. William junior followed the same route, enrolling at the
Middle TempleThe Honourable Society of the Middle Temple is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn. It is near the Royal Courts of Justice, within the City of London.In the 13th...
in 1665. He joined the diplomatic service in 1668 when his uncle Thomas Povey, an influential London lawyer, found him a post at the English embassy in
The HagueThe Hague is the third largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with a population of 485,818 and an area of approximately 100 km²...
.
Returning to London in the early 1670s, Blathwayt became an
Clerk of the Privy CouncilThe Clerk of the Privy Council is a civil servant in the government of the United Kingdom. He or she is the most senior civil servant in the Privy Council Office....
in Extraordinary. He was considered "as a very fit person" to be assistant to the secretary of the council, becoming heavily involved in the administration of England's colonies in North America. In 1680 he became the first auditor-general of royal revenues in America, and after 1685 became the secretary of the Privy Council's committee on trade and foreign plantations—in effect, colonial under-secretary. It was in this capacity that he became a key figure in American affairs. He was responsible for establishing the charter of the
Crown colonyA Crown colony was a type of colonial administration of the British Empire.Crown colonies were ruled by a governor appointed by the Crown...
of the
Province of Massachusetts BayThe Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony chartered October 7, 1691 in British America by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland...
, the predecessor of the state of
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
. He did much to promote trade in America and the
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...
, promoting the slave trade and benefiting considerably from gifts and bribes received in connection with his office (as was the usual practice in his day).
In October 1686, he became a Clerk of the Privy Council in Ordinary. That same year, he married Mary Wynter, a wealthy heiress. His rise was noted by many of his contemporaries; the diarist
John EvelynJohn Evelyn was an English writer, gardener and diarist.Evelyn's diaries or Memoirs are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and politics of the time John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February...
commended him as "very dexterous in business" and as one who had "raised himself by his industry from very moderate circumstances."
In 1683, Blathwayt obtained by purchase the office of
Secretary at WarThe Secretary at War was a political position in the British government with some responsibility over the administration and organization of the British army, but not over military policy. The Secretary at War ran the War Office. It was occasionally a cabinet level position, although it was...
. This was originally merely the role of secretary to the
Commander-in-ChiefA commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the...
of the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
but under Blathwayt the remit of the Secretary was greatly expanded to encompass all areas of Army administration. He effectively established the
War OfficeThe War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1963, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
as a department of the government, although he had very little input into the actual conduct of wars. Issues of strategic policy during wartime were managed by the
NorthernThe Northern Department was a department of the government of England and later the Kingdom of Great Britain, responsible for dealing with government business in the northern part of Europe. This included foreign affairs concerning such northern powers as Russia, Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire...
and
Southern DepartmentThe Southern Department was a former department of the government of England and later the Kingdom of Great Britain. It had a variety of responsibilities, including domestic and Irish policy, colonial policy and foreign affairs concerning southern European powers such as France, Spain, Portugal,...
s (the predecessors of today's Foreign Office and
Home OfficeThe Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security and order. As such it is responsible for the police, United Kingdom Borders Agency and MI5. It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs, counter-terrorism...
respectively).
From 1692 to 1702, Blathwayt served as the
Secretary of StateSecretary of State is a commonly used title for a member of government. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the government.In many countries, a Secretary of State is a mid-level post...
to King
William IIIWilliam III was a sovereign Prince of Orange 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, and as William II over Scotland...
. He became a
WhigThe Whigs are often described as one of the two original political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to the mid-19th centuries. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
for
BathBath is a constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is an ancient constituency which has been constantly represented in Parliament since boroughs were first summoned to send members in the 13th century...
in 1693 (a post which he retained until 1710) and built a large mansion house for himself at
Dyrham ParkDyrham Park is a baroque mansion in an ancient deer park near the village of Dyrham in South Gloucestershire, England.-Description:The house is set in 274 acres of gardens and parkland...
near Bristol, which he decorated with numerous Dutch Old Masters and sumptuous fabrics and furnishings.
Blathwayt retired to Dyrham in 1710 (his wife had died in 1691). He remained there until his death in 1717; he is buried in the local churchyard.