Edward Harley (Parliamentarian)
Sir Edward Harley New Radnor Boroughs | |
---|---|
In office April 1661 – May 1679 | |
Deputy lieutenant of Herefordshire | |
In office August 1660 – 1682 | |
Governor of Dunkirk | |
In office May 1660 – May 1661 | |
Custos Rotulorum of Radnorshire | |
In office 1660–1682 | |
Member of Parliament for Herefordshire | |
In office November 1646 – May 1660 [a] | |
Parliamentarian Governor of Canon Frome | |
In office August 1645 – November 1646 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 21 October 1624 Brampton Bryan, Herefordshire |
Died | 8 December 1700 Brampton Bryan | (aged 76)
Resting place | St Barnabas church, Brampton Bryan |
Nationality | English |
Spouse(s) | (1) Mary Button (Accuracy issue here›,is it Button or Dutton?)
(1654-1660) her death; (2) Abigail Stephens (1661) |
Children | (1) Four daughters (2) Magdalen Hall, Oxford Lincoln's Inn |
Military service | |
Rank | Colonel |
Battles/wars |
|
Sir Edward Harley (21 October 1624 – 8 December 1700) was an English politician from
Harley's refusal to support the
However, his strong Presbyterian beliefs meant Harley was never entirely accepted by the new regime, which combined with his preference for local politics meant this was the last significant post he held. Elected MP for
In November 1688, he raised a troop of cavalry to fight for William of Orange, and regained his positions after the Glorious Revolution. He continued to attend Parliament where he supported the Whigs, but relinquished his seat in 1695, and died at Brampton Bryan Hall on 8 December 1700. His eldest son Robert, Earl of Oxford (1661-1724), served as Lord High Treasurer in the 1711 to 1713 Tory government.
Personal details
Edward Harley was born 21 October 1624 in
In 1654, Harley married Mary Dutton,(Accuracy issue here›,is it Button or Dutton?) and they had four daughters before her death; [b] in 1661, Abigail Stephens became his second wife. They had four surviving children; Robert, Earl of Oxford (1661-1724), who became Lord High Treasurer in 1711, Edward Harley (1664–1735), Abigail (1664 -1726), and Nathaniel (1665 - 1720).[2]
First English Civil War
The Harleys were one of the most powerful families in Herefordshire, while both Sir Robert and Lady Brilliana were
When the First English Civil War began in August 1642, the Harleys were among the minority of Herefordshire landed gentry who supported Parliament, and the county became a major source of Royalist recruits.[4] By 1643, Parliamentarian forces controlled only a few strongholds in the area, including Brampton Bryan castle, where the garrison was commanded by Lady Brilliana. The local headquarters was Gloucester, held throughout the conflict by Edward Massey.[5]
During William Waller's 1643 campaign in South West England, Harley served as captain of a troop of cavalry at Lansdowne and Roundway Down in July. Two Parliamentarian defeats that cemented Royalist control of the region, he later attributed these setbacks to divine punishment for over confidence.[6] However, an attack on Gloucester itself was successfully repulsed, and in August Harley was made colonel of a new infantry regiment raised as part of Massey's Army of the Western Association.[2]
Lady Brilliana died of pneumonia in October 1643, while Brampton Bryan castle was sacked and burned a few months later. During a Royalist attempt to tighten their blockade of Gloucester in August 1644, Harley was wounded in a skirmish outside Redmarley D'Abitot,[7] a village near Ledbury.[2] This was repulsed, and with Prince Rupert taking many Royalist troops north for the Marston Moor campaign, Parliamentarian forces were able to capture Monmouth in September.[8] Harley was appointed Governor, before dissension among the garrison and hostility from the locals allowed the Royalists to retake the town in November.[9]
When the
Parliament presumably hoped Harley would counterbalance some of his radical officers, which included
However, victory resulted in increasingly bitter disputes over the post-war political settlement between radicals within the New Model like Oliver Cromwell, and Parliamentary moderates, the most prominent being Denzil Holles.[14] At the same time, Parliament's desperate economic position made reducing the number of men under arms a matter of urgency. Seeking to ensure his own troops were retained and to re-assert his position in local politics, Harley became involved in a power struggle with the other prominent Parliamentarian in the region, Colonel John Birch, Governor of Hereford.[15]
In September 1646, Harley supported a proposal to dissolve those forces commanded by Birch, whom he then defeated in a By-election for
Pride's Purge and the Interregnum
Harley took no part in the
The continuing influence of the Harley family in local politics was demonstrated in September 1656 when Edward was returned as MP for Herefordshire in the Second Protectorate Parliament, despite a concerted effort by The Protectorate authorities to prevent it. However, he was promptly barred from Parliament by Cromwell for challenging his appointment as Lord Protector.[17] His father died in December and Harley inherited his estates; these had been badly damaged by the war, and he spent the new few years restoring them.[2]
The Restoration and after
Harley returned to the Commons when the Long Parliament was re-installed in February 1660, and in April was re-elected for Herefordshire in the Convention Parliament.[17] After the Stuart Restoration in May, Charles II made him Deputy lieutenant of Herefordshire, Custos Rotulorum of Radnorshire, and Governor of Dunkirk. Occupied by England since 1658, Harley was committed to the town's retention,[d] but was removed as Governor in 1661, shortly before Charles sold it to France in October 1662.[20]
Harley reportedly refused a peerage but accepted a knighthood so he could continue to sit in the Commons. In 1661, he was elected to the
Described by one opponent as a "Presbyterian rogue", Harley's religious opinions and hostility to Catholicism meant he was mistrusted by many of those around Charles II.
He retained considerable influence in Herefordshire, and despite being arrested during the unsuccessful
Notes
- ^ Excluded by Pride's Purge in December 1648, elected to the Second Protectorate Parliament in 1656, but not permitted to sit, re-admitted with the rest of the Long Parliament in April 1660
- ^ No record of them has yet been traced
- Congregationalistsetc
- ^ As well as providing an entry point for European intervention, many English politicians wanted to retain Dunkirk largely due to its unique position. Ships based there could reach the North Sea on a single flood tide, making it a privateer base for centuries,[19] and is why it proved so useful as an evacuation point in 1940
- ^ It is difficult to overstate the hostility to permanent forces caused by the experience of military rule under the New Model Army. Many saw them as a symptom of "arbitrary government", and James II's expansion of the Royal Army post 1685 was a major factor in losing him popular support [23]
References
- ^ Eales 2004.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Goodwin 2004.
- ^ Jenkins 1959.
- ^ Hutton 2002, pp. 13–14.
- ^ Warmington 2004.
- ^ Royle 2004, p. 247.
- ^ Smith, Eric. "Battle of Redmarley 1644" (PDF). Redmarley.org.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ^ Hutton 2002, p. 151.
- ^ Hutton 2002, pp. 168–169.
- ^ Wanklyn 2015, pp. 47–48.
- ^ Wanklyn 2014, pp. 109–125.
- ^ Wanklyn 2015, p. 151.
- ^ Royle 2004, p. 387.
- ^ Gentles 2002, pp. 144–150.
- ^ Atherton 2013, pp. 36–137.
- ^ Key 2004.
- ^ a b c d e f g Helms & Rowlands 1983.
- ^ Helms & Ferris 1983.
- ^ Bromley 1987, p. 233.
- ^ Uglow 2009, pp. 203–204.
- ^ Miller 1978, pp. 171–172.
- ^ Jackson 2021, p. 441.
- ^ Childs 1987, p. 184.
Sources
- Atherton, Ian (2013). "An Account of Herefordshire in the First Civil War". Midland History. 21 (1): 136–155. .
- Bromley, JS (1987). Corsairs and Navies, 1600-1760. Continnuum-3PL. ISBN 978-0907628774.
- Childs, John (1987). The British Army of William III, 1689-1702 (1990 ed.). Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0719025525.
- Eales, Jacqueline (2004). "Harley, Sir Robert (1579–1656)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/12343. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Gentles, Ian (2002). Kenyon, John; Ohlmeyer, Jane (eds.). The Civil Wars in England in The Civil Wars; a Military History of England, Scotland and Ireland 1638-1660. OUP. ISBN 978-0192802781.
- Goodwin, Gordon (2004). "Harley, Sir Edward (1624–1700)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/12335. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Helms, M.W; Rowlands, Edward (1983). "Harley, Edward (1624-1700), of Brampton Bryan, Herefs". The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660–1690. Boydell and Brewer. ISBN 978-1107002258. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- Helms, M.W; Ferris, John P (1983). "HARLEY, Robert I (1626-73), of Walford, Herefs". The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660–1690. Boydell and Brewer. ISBN 978-1107002258. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- Hutton, Ronald (2002). The Royalist War Effort 1642-1646 (2003 ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-0415305402.
- Jackson, Clare (2021). Devil-Land: England Under Siege, 1588-1688. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-0-14-198458-2.
- Jenkins, R.T (1959). HARLEY family, of Brampton Bryan and Wigmore, Herefordshire, later earls of Oxford and Mortimer; in Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
- Key, Newton (2004). "Birch, John (1615–1691)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2429. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Miller, John (1978). James II; A study in kingship. Menthuen. ISBN 978-0413652904.
- Royle, Trevor (2004). Civil War: the Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1638-1660 (2006 ed.). Abacus. ISBN 978-0349115641.
- Uglow, Jenny (2009). A Gambling Man: Charles II and the Restoration. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0571217335.
- Wanklyn, Malcolm (2014). "Choosing Officers for the New Model Army February to April 1645". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 92 (370): 109–125. JSTOR 44232556.
- Wanklyn, Malcolm (2015). Reconstructing the New Model Army Volume I; Regimental Lists April 1645 to May 1649. Helion and Company. ISBN 978-1910777107.
- Warmington, Gordon (2004). "Massey [Massie], Sir Edward (1604x9–1674)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/18297. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)