Charles Pierrepont, 1st Earl Manvers explained

Charles Pierrepont
1st Earl Manvers
Constituency Mp:Nottinghamshire
Parliament:Great Britain
Term Start:1778
Term End:1796
Birth Date:4 November 1737
Birthname:Charles Medows
Spouse:Anne Orton Mills
Allegiance:Great Britain
Branch:Royal Navy
Serviceyears:1747–1769
Rank:Captain
Battles:

Charles (Medows) Pierrepont, 1st Earl Manvers (4 November 1737 – 17 June 1816) was a British naval officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1778 to 1796 when he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Newark.

Early life

Born Charles Medows, sometimes Meadows, he was the second son of Philip Meadows (1708-1781), deputy ranger of Richmond Park, by his marriage to Lady Frances Pierrepont (1711-1795),[1] daughter of William, Earl of Kingston.[2] Charles Medows was the great-grandson and the heir apparent of Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull.[3]

William, Earl of Kingston, predeceased his father, Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-Upon-Hull; thus the Dukedom and estates devolved on William's son, Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, who was Lady Frances's brother. The 2nd Duke, however, died childless, leaving Charles Medows, his nephew, as the eventual heir to the estates.

Family's royal and political connections

Charles (Medows) Pierrepont, 1st Earl Manvers was the great-grandson of Sir Philip Meadows (d. 1718), the successful parliamentarian. In 1710, Sir Philip's fellow parliamentarian, Sir John Guise, 3rd Bart., was "informed by Queen Anne that Sir Philip had been promised the position as Envoy to Hanover,[4] the role Guise had envisaged for himself.[5] [6] Sir Philip Meadows was knighted in 1658, made Knight Marshal by Oliver Cromwell and sent as an Ambassador to Sweden and Denmark.[6] [7]

In 1717, Sir Philip's son, Sir Philip Meadowes (d. 1757), was one of the twelve members of the Board of General Officers, working with Sir Robert Walpole, the First Commissioner (Lord) of the Treasury. Earlier, on 2 July 1700 he was appointed, as his father had been, knight-marshal of the King's Household, and was formally knighted by King William on 23 December 1700 at Hampton Court.[8] [6] Sir Philip's daughter, Mary (1713-1743), was a Maid of honour to Queen Caroline and his first cousin was Philip Meadows (1679-1752), who had been Mayor of Norwich in 1734. On 29 May of that year, Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole presented Mayor Meadows with his personal gift: the city's new silver mace which bore Walpole's own coat-of-arms.[9] Like Prime Minister Walpole, Mayor Meadows had accumulated vast wealth owing to their success with the South Sea Company.[10] [11] [12] [13]

Another of Sir Philip's sons, Sir Sidney Meadows, was also knight-marshal of the Kings Palace. Sidney died in Andover in 1792. Like his brother Philip, Sidney was Deputy Ranger of Richmond Park and worked under Prime Minister John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute who, by 1761, had been appointed Ranger by George III. At this time - shortly after he ascended the throne in 1760 - the King was sold the Rangership by his daughter Princess Amelia.[14] King George, having appointed the third Lord Bute as Ranger, continued to keep up an interest in the park and instigated many repairs and improvements with Sir Sidney (and at times his brother Philip) as deputy. When Lord Bute died in 1792 the King took the Rangership back into his own keeping and for a short time areas were given over to farming. Sir Sydney died in 1792, aged 91, having worked alongside the King, managing the park's agricultural and grazing branches.[15] [16] [17]

Naval career

Educated at Oxford, Medows became a midshipman in the Royal Navy and was promoted to lieutenant on 7 August 1755. He became a commander on 5 April 1757[18] in Renown, a 20-gun sloop, but on 17 August the same year was promoted to post-captain in the frigate, and was ordered to join the Mediterranean Fleet. He commanded her until April 1761, when Vice-Admiral Saunders appointed him to the 50-gun frigate, replacing Captain Edward Wheeler, who had been killed during the capture of the . Medows continued on Isis, in the Mediterranean, until the end of the war in 1763, and in 1769 retired altogether from the Navy.[19]

In 1773, Medows's uncle, Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, died and left his estates at Thoresby and elsewhere to his wife Elizabeth, Duchess of Kingston, the former wife of the Earl of Bristol. The duke's nephews challenged the will on the grounds of bigamy, and the proceedings which followed established that the marriage of the Duchess had indeed been bigamous. However, this was found not to affect her inheritance, so she was able to retain the Pierrepont estates until her death, which took place in August 1788. Upon inheriting the estates, Medows adopted the surname of Pierrepont by Royal Licence.

A watercolour sketch entitled In Captain Pierrepont's Grounds was made by the Preston-born artist Anthony Devis (1729–1817).

Political career

His family's political dynasty ensured that Medows was a well connected, if not terribly effective parliamentarian. As a Whig, Medows had been on good terms with Horace Walpole, the son of Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole. Horace had voiced his concern about the impending death of Medows' uncle, the 2nd Duke of Kingston.[20] [21] With the patronage of the prime minister's protégé, Thomas Pelham Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, Medows was returned as one of the Members of Parliament for Nottinghamshire in December 1778. He continued to sit in the Commons as a knight of the shire until he was ennobled in 1796. In Parliament, Medows (Pierrepont) supported the Duke of Portland, whose influence helped him to be raised to the peerage as Baron Pierrepont, of Holme Pierrepont in the County of Nottingham, and Viscount Newark, of Newark-on-Trent in the County of Nottingham, on 23 July 1796, and on 1 April 1806 he was promoted to an earldom as Earl Manvers. In the Lords, Manvers supported agricultural reform and was vice-president of the Board of Agriculture in 1803. He died in 1816 and was buried at Holme Pierrepont.

Family and children

He married Anne Orton, daughter of William Mills of Richmond, in 1774. They had five children:

References

Notes
  • Bibliography

    • Notes and References

    1. Book: Lodge . E. . The Genealogy of the existing British Peerage with Sketches ... - Earls of Manvers . 1840 . Saunders and Otley, London . 319 . ..William, Earl of Kingston had one daughter Lady Frances who was born in 1711 and died in 1795 - married Philip Meadows in 1734....
    2. Book: Lodge . E. . The Genealogy of the existing British Peerage with Sketches ... - Earls of Manvers . 1840 . Saunders and Otley, London . 319 . ..William, Earl of Kingston had one daughter Lady Frances who was born in 1711 and died in 1795 - married Philip Meadows in 1734....
    3. Web site: Manuscripts and Special Collections - Biography of William Pierrepont, Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull (1692-1713) . University of Nottingham . 3 June 2023 . William was the only son of Evelyn Pierrepont, 5th Earl and 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull. He was styled Viscount Newark until 1706, and thereafter Earl of Kingston. He died of smallpox, aged 20, in July 1713. Family In 1711 he married Rachel Baynton (1695-1722), legal daughter of Thomas Baynton of Little Charfield, Wiltshire, but biological daughter and heiress of John Hall of Bradford, Wiltshire, and had: Evelyn (1711-1773), later 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, Frances, m Philip Medows.
    4. Book: Gregg. Edward. Queen Anne. Yale University Press. 1 November 2014. 316. 9780300212952. 9 April 2014. On 25 June 1710, the Queen shattered a cherished plan of the treasurer (Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin) to send his nephew, Sir Philip Meadows, as Envoy to Hanover....
    5. Web site: Guise, Sir John, 3rd Bt. (c.1678–1732), of Elmore, Glos. A History of Parliament. Crown copyright and The History of Parliament Trust . 1964–2016. 7 April 2015. Secretary Harley made a point of telling Sir John Guise soon afterwards that when he had suggested Guise’s name for the envoy’s post, the Queen (Anne) informed him that it was already promised to Sir Philip Meadows (M.P.) who, as she pointed out, was Godolphin’s nephew..
    6. Meadows, Philip. 37. MEADOWS, Sir PHILIP (1626–1718), diplomatist, baptised at Chattisham, Suffolk, on 4 Jan. 1625–6 (Page, Suffolk, p. 13), was fifth son of Daniel Meadowe (1571/1577–1651/1659) of Chattisham....During the spring of 1658 Meadows was knighted, and was sent as ambassador to the court of Sweden....
    7. Web site: Burke. Sir Bernard. A visitation of the seats and arms of the noblemen and gentlemen of Great Britain (Volume 2) online. SEATS OF GREAT BRITAIN. Hurst and Blackett. 1855 . Country Homes. 202–203. 7 April 2014. Sir Philip Meadows, Kt., Marshall of the King's Palace, was a descendant of the Witnesham family; Sir Philip's father, the first Sir Philip (also Knight Marshall)...
    8. Book: Oldmixon. Mr (John). The History of England: During the Reigns of King William and Queen Mary, Queen Anne, King George I. T. Cox . 1735 . 627. 4 March 2013.
    9. Web site: The city of Norwich, chapter 37: Of the city in the time of King George II. University of London . 2015 . 443–454). 9 April 2016. CHAPTER XXXVII – Mayors and Sheriffs – In 1734, a new silver mace, weighing 168 ounces, gilt and finely exchased, was presented to the city by the right honourable Sir Rob. Walpole; on the cup part of it are Sir Robert's arms, and the arms of the city; it was first carried before (the) mayor (see list below – Mayor of Norwich 1734, † Philip Meadows) on the 29th of May....
    10. Web site: Ancestry of Kate Middleton. wargs.com. 6 March 2016. Daniel Meadows (1577–1651/59) m. Elizabeth Smith
      .Sir Philip Medows m. Constance Lucy
       .Sir Philip Medows m. Dorothy Boscawen
        .Philip Medows m. Frances Pierrepont
         .CHARLES MEDOWS PIERREPONT, 1st Earl MANVERS (1737–1816)
          .NB: This document also shows Kate Middleton's descent form Daniel Meadows/Medows (died 1651/59).
    11. Web site: Meadows-Taylor. Philip. A Memoir of the Family of Taylor of Norwich. 1902.. Taylor, Philip Meadows. 2013. 3–4. London: Forgotten Books. 1902. 5 March 2016. (Mayor of Norwich) Mr. Philip Meadows embarked a large part of his fortune in the South Sea scheme..... https://web.archive.org/web/20160416183332/http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/A_Memoir_of_the_Family_of_Taylor_of_Norwich_1000046255/7. 16 April 2016. dead.
    12. Web site: Debrett. John. Debrett's Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Charles Herbert Pierrepont, Earl Manvers. Debretts . 1836 . 141 . ...Sir Philip Meadows (d.1718), son of Daniel Meadows (d.1659), leaving one son – Sir Philip Meadows (d.1757) (whose) issue (included) daughter, Mary (d.1743) – Maid of honour to Queen Caroline.
    13. Book: Coxe. William. Memoirs of the Life and Administration of Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford, Volume 1. T. Cadell, jun. and W. Davies . 1800 . Great Britain . 386. 5 April 2015.
    14. Web site: Smollett. T. and G.. The British Magazine, Or, Monthly Repository for Gentlemen & Ladies (Marriages and Promotions). January 1761. James Rivington & James Fletcher ... & H. Payne . 335.
    15. Book: Faulkner. Thomas. History and Antiquities of Kensington: Interspersed with Biographical. Jaques for Egerton . 1820 . 263. 7 April 2015.
    16. "The Princess sold her Rangership to George III shortly after his accession and retired to Gunnersbury (qv), north of the Thames..In 1761, George III (1760-1820) appointed the third Lord Bute as Ranger but continued to keep up an interest in the park and instigated many repairs and improvements. Carriages were, on production of a ticket, allowed admission to the park. When Lord Bute died in 1792, the King took the Rangership back into his own keeping and for a short time areas were given over to farming.."
    17. Web site: The British Friend. 2 February 1849 . 32. 13 April 2014. Sir Sidney Meadows having for some years had the management of richmond Park, in the agricultural and grazing branches under the direction of the King - George III who was himself well acquainted with and understood every part of the rural economy.....
    18. Book: Doyle, James Edmund . James William Edmund Doyle . The official baronage of England, showing the succession, dignities, and offices of every peer from 1066 to 1885, with sixteen hundred illustrations . II . 463 . 1885 . . London . 26 October 2013.
    19. Book: Charnock, John . Biographia Navalis; or, Impartial memoirs of the lives and characters of officers of the navy of Great Britain, from the year 1660 to the present time; drawn from the most authentic sources, and disposed in a chronological arrangement . VI . 1798 . R. Faulder . London . 265 . 26 October 2013.
    20. Book: Walpole. Horace. Private Correspondence. Horace Walpole . 1837 . 69. 9 April 2014.
    21. Book: Walpole. Horace. The Correspondence of Horace Walpole, with George Montagu, Esq., [and Others].: 1770–1797]. Henry Colburn. 1837 . 69. 7 April 2013. Letter – 15 November 1773 – to the Earl of Strafford regarding the death of the Duke of Kingston in 1773.

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