John Lovelace, 3rd Baron Lovelace

John Lovelace, 3rd Baron Lovelace (1641 – 27 September 1693) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1661 to 1670 when he inherited the title Baron Lovelace. He was notorious for his drunken and extravagant way of life, which undoubtedly hastened his death.

Life

Lovelace was born at Hurley, Berkshire, the son of John Lovelace, 2nd Baron Lovelace, and Anne Lovelace, 7th Baroness Wentworth and Baroness le Despenser. suo jure (née Lady Anne Wentworth).^[1] He matriculated at Wadham College, Oxford, on 25 July 1655, and was awarded MA on 9 September 1661.^[2]

In 1661, Lovelace was elected

Puritan in religion, he was also a keen sportsman, and notorious as a heavy drinker and gambler. Due to his gambling debts, and other debts he inherited from his father, he was obliged in the end to sell nearly all his lands, including the main family residence of Hurley. He was called "a man of good natural parts, but of very loose and very ill principles".^[3]

Lovelace was also notably anti-Catholic: under the Catholic regime of James II he created a scandal when a

Privy Council, and threatened with prosecution.^[4] J.P. Kenyon remarks that a more sensible ruler than James II would have let the matter drop, as a rather tasteless joke with no political overtones.^[5]

Following the discovery of the Rye House Plot, Lovelace was questioned as to his involvement, but nothing could be proved against him, despite his close political links to some of the alleged plotters.

Glorious Revolution

He was admitted into the confidence of those organising the Glorious Revolution to replace the Catholic James II with the Protestant William of Orange. In March 1688, he was summoned before the Privy Council and questioned about his dealings with William, but was released on account of insufficient evidence.^[3] He protested his loyalty to James in person, but the King was unimpressed, saying angrily: "My Lord, this is not the first trick you have played me". Lovelace indignantly replied "I never played a trick on your majesty or anyone else".

He arranged secret meetings in a cellar at Ladye Place, his home in Hurley. Once he heard that William had landed in England, he set out with 70 men to join him, but was captured and imprisoned in Gloucester Castle. After his release, he entered Oxford with a force of 300 cavalry to occupy the city for William.^[3]

Last years and death

Lovelace was appointed

Justice in Eyre south of Trent.^[2] However his conduct hardly fitted him for any public office: he was nearly always drunk, and by 1691 was reported to be wandering the streets of London assaulting strangers. In 1692, suffering from the ill effects of a lifetime of alcoholic excess, Lovelace fell down a flight of stairs and received injuries from which he never recovered.^[3] He died in 1693 in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London at the age of about 53.^[1]

Family

Lovelace married in 1662 Martha Pye, the daughter and coheiress of

Henry Johnson

, said to be 'the greatest shipbuilder and shipowner of his day'; and succeeded her grandmother as the 8th Baroness Wentworth.

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c History of Parliament Online - Lovelace, Hon. John
^ ^a ^b 'Alumni Oxonienses, 1500-1714: Lloyd-Lytton', Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714 (1891), pp. 921-955. Date accessed: 17 June 2012
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Seccombe 1893.
^ Kenyon, J.P The Stuarts Fontana edition 1966 p.160
^ Kenyon p.160

References

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Seccombe, Thomas (1893). "Lovelace, John". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 34. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 166–168.

Legal offices
Preceded by The Earl of Huntingdon	Justice in Eyre south of the Trent 1689–1693	Succeeded by The Earl of Abingdon
Parliament of England
Preceded by Richard Powle Sir Robert Pye	Member of Parliament for Berkshire 1661–1670 With: Richard Powle	Succeeded by Richard Powle Richard Neville
Peerage of England
Preceded by John Lovelace	Baron Lovelace 1670–1693	Succeeded by John Lovelace
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Earl of Huntingdon	Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners 1689–1693	Succeeded by Charles Beauclerk

[HOP-1] History of Parliament Online - Lovelace, Hon. John

[Alumni-2] 'Alumni Oxonienses, 1500-1714: Lloyd-Lytton', Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714 (1891), pp. 921-955. Date accessed: 17 June 2012

[FOOTNOTESeccombe1893-3] Seccombe 1893.

[4] Kenyon, J.P The Stuarts Fontana edition 1966 p.160

[5] Kenyon p.160

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