Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland

JP
Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland by Anthony van Dyck, circa 1640
Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
In office 1628–1649
Governor of Windsor Castle and Landguard Fort
In office 1628–1648
Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire & Middlesex
In office 1628–1643
Groom of the Stool
In office 1636–1643
Privy Council of England
In office 1624–1642
Member of Parliament for Leicester
In office April 1614 – June 1614
Personal details
Born	15 August 1590 (baptised) Eighty Years War Anglo-French War (1627–1629) Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré; Wars of the Three Kingdoms First Battle of Newbury; Battle of St Neots (1648)

Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland

A close friend of Charles I and his favourite the Duke of Buckingham, Rich performed various diplomatic errands, including negotiations for Charles' marriage to Henrietta Maria of France in 1625. He took part in the unsuccessful attack on Saint-Martin-de-Ré in 1627 and held a number of important positions at court during the 1630s. When the First English Civil War began in August 1642, Rich remained in London rather than joining the Royalists, but like other moderates became disillusioned with the war. He defected in July 1643 after failing to persuade his cousin and commander-in-chief of the Parliamentarian army, Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, to negotiate peace terms.

When Charles agreed a truce with the

He had two sisters, Essex (1585–1658) and Lettice (1587–1619) and a brother Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick (1587–1658). He also had a number of half brothers and sisters, including Penelope (b. 1592), Isabella, Mountjoy Blount, 1st Earl of Newport (1597–1666), and Charles (1605–1627). Almost certainly fathered by Charles Mountjoy, these children were brought up within the Rich family and appear in its pedigree, with the exception of Mountjoy, who was legitimised after his father's death.^[4]

His father Robert was the wealthiest landowner in

In 1612, he married Isabel Cope, whose dowry included Cope House in Kensington. This was greatly expanded by Rich in 1624 to 1625 and renamed Holland House; largely destroyed in 1940, parts of the original house still remain.^[5] They had numerous children, including Frances (1617–1672), Robert (1619–1675), Henry (1620–1669), Isabella (1623–1670), Susannah (1628–1649), Diana (d. 1659), Charles (d. 1645), Cope (1635–1676) and Mary (1636–1666).^[6] Several of the family tombs are at St Mary Abbots Church, Kensington.^[7]

Career; pre-1639

Rich was educated at

As was then common, Rich completed his education by studying law at the Inner Temple in 1611 and was re-elected for Leicester in the short-lived Addled Parliament of 1614. Clarendon later wrote he was ideally suited to the Jacobean era court, being "a very handsome man, of a lovely and winning presence".^[10] However, wealth was also a prerequisite; his father-in-law Sir Walter Cope died in 1614 with debts of over £27,000, greatly impacting Rich's ability to advance.^[11]

Rich became close to

In 1627, Rich was involved in the disastrous Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, which led to Buckingham's impeachment by Parliament; although this failed, he was assassinated on 23 August 1628. The next day, Rich wrote to Charles claiming he had been promised the position Governor of Windsor Castle.^[12] This request was granted, along with an appointment as Governor of Landguard Fort, and he benefited from his relationship with Henrietta Maria, who had replaced Buckingham as Charles' closest advisor. Over the next few months, he was made Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire and Middlesex, Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, and numerous other offices.^[13]

Although he failed to become First Lord of the Admiralty, the 1630s was the highpoint of his career as a courtier; as a Privy councillor, he was frequently consulted on foreign affairs, although his anti-Spanish policy was at odds with that pursued by Charles. In 1636, he was appointed Groom of the Stool; by this stage the term indicated proximity to the monarch rather than function, and the officeholder was an important part of the Royal household.^[14]

Career; Wars of the Three Kingdoms

Despite his close links to the court and reputation for extravagance and ambition, Lord Conway described Rich and his brother Warwick as the "temporal and spiritual heads of the Puritans".^[3] This shows the danger of conflating "Roundhead" and "Puritan", which often implied a political outlook as much as a moral one. While the majority supported Parliament during the civil war, men like Sir William Savile were equally opposed to Catholicism but became Royalists out of a sense of personal loyalty.^[15]

Rich used his patronage to appoint "Godly" clergy, while opposing Laudianism and "Popery", causing a breach with Henrietta Maria, who was a devout Catholic.^[16] In addition, he supported two causes central to the Puritan movement, the first being the restoration of Charles' Protestant nephew, Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine, to his hereditary lands in the Electoral Palatinate.^[16]

The second was participation in the colonial movement, which sought to establish English possessions in the West Indies and North America, then dominated by Spain. Rich supported colonies in Virginia and Bermuda and from 1630 to 1642 was governor of the Providence Island Company. While his attendance at company meetings was irregular, he helped secure funding and support for its activities, including Privateer attacks on Spanish merchant ships.^[17] Many of his colleagues were leaders of the Parliamentarian opposition in 1641, including John Pym, John Hampden, Lord Saye and Lord Brooke.^[18]

The Wars of the Three Kingdoms began in 1639 with the first of the two Bishops' Wars against the Scots Covenanters; Rich served as General of Horse in a chaotic campaign that ended without significant action. A second defeat in 1640 forced Charles to recall Parliament in November, which impeached both Archbishop Laud and the Earl of Strafford. A long-time opponent of Strafford, Rich gave evidence against him but abstained from the vote which led to his execution in May 1641.^[3]

Although Charles appointed him commander of the

He resumed his seat in the House of Lords, while an attempt to impeach him for treason was blocked by Denzil Holles, head of the "Peace" faction in Parliament.^[20] Rich was one of ten lords appointed to the Westminster Assembly, a body established with Scottish representatives to agree reforms for the Church of England.^[21] By the time Charles surrendered in June 1646, his opponents were divided between moderates led by Holles who dominated Parliament and radicals within the New Model Army, headed by Oliver Cromwell. After negotiations between the king and Parliament broke down in late 1647, the Scots, English moderates and Royalists created an alliance to restore Charles to the throne. The Second English Civil War began in April 1648.^[22]

On 4 July, a petition was presented to Parliament demanding the resumption of negotiations with Charles, and on the same day, Rich and George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham raised 400 cavalry in an attempt to seize London. This was insufficient for the task and the Royalists retreated through Surrey, before being intercepted and scattered outside Surbiton by Sir Michael Livesey. Rich and 200 men reached St Neots on Sunday 9 July, along with Colonel John Dalbier, an experienced German mercenary who served with him in the 1627 Saint-Martin-de-Ré expedition.^[23]

The next day, they were attacked by a detachment from the New Model under Colonel Adrian Scrope; Dalbier was killed, Buckingham escaped to France and Rich taken prisoner to Windsor Castle.^[24] The war ended with Parliamentarian victory at Preston in August, followed by the Execution of Charles I on 30 January 1649. On 27 February, Rich was taken to London for trial; many felt he should have been punished in 1643 and despite pleas from his brother Warwick, he was executed on 9 March along with Lord Capell and the Duke of Hamilton.^[25]

Shortly before his death, Rich composed a statement arguing he had always been faithful to Parliament, a "remarkable claim for someone who had deserted them twice".^[2] However, the suggestion he never changed the "principles that ever I professed" and was more consistent than those responsible for executing Charles was a view shared by many Parliamentarian moderates.^[2]

References

Sources

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• Clarendon, Earl of (1704). The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England; Volume I (2019 ed.). Wentworth Press.
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• Cracrofts Peerage. "Henry [Rich], 1st Baron Kensington later 1st Earl of Holland, KG PC". Cracrofts Peerage. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
• Donagan, Barbara (1976). "A Courtier's Progress: Greed and Consistency in the Life of the Earl of Holland". The Historical Journal. 19 (2): 317–353.
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• Smut, R Malcolm (2004). "Rich, Henry, first earl of Holland (1598-1649)".
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• Van Duinen, Jared (2007). The Nature of Puritan Opposition in 1630s England in "Prosopography Approaches" and Applications: A Handbook. University of Oxford Linacre College Unit for Prosopographical Research.
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• Watson, Paula; Coates, Ben (2010). RICH, Henry (1590-1649), of Smithfield, London and Kensington, Mdx in "The House of Commons 1604-1629". Cambridge University Press.