Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer
John Smith | |
---|---|
Personal details | |
Born | Covent Garden, Middlesex, Kingdom of England | 5 December 1661
Died | 21 May 1724 Westminster, Middlesex, England, Kingdom of Great Britain | (aged 62)
Resting place | Brampton Bryan, Herefordshire |
Political party | Country |
Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Foley Sarah Middleton |
Children | 4, including Edward |
Parent(s) | Sir Edward Harley Abigail Stephens |
Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer,
The central achievement of Harley's government was the negotiation of the
He was also a noted literary figure, serving as a patron of both the October Club and the Scriblerus Club. Harley Street is sometimes said to be named after him, although it was his son Edward Harley who actually developed the area.
Early life: 1661–1688
Harley was born in
The principles of Whiggism and Nonconformism were taught to him at an early age, and he never formally abandoned his family's religious opinions, although he departed from them in politics.
His father was wrongly imprisoned for suspected support for the 1685
Glorious Revolution: 1688–1689
During 1688 Harley acted as his father's agent in promoting support for William, Prince of Orange and the Protestant cause against the policies of
Backbench member of parliament: 1689–1701
This recommended Robert Harley to the notice of the Boscawen family, and led to his election, in April 1689, as the parliamentary representative of
Harley supported the Toleration Bill during its passage through the Commons and he hoped for "an equal settlement of religion" to be achieved by the inclusion of Presbyterians in the Church of England. However, this was not adopted.[5] He also helped to defeat a Tory amendment to the Bill of Rights that would have enabled James II's son James Francis Edward Stuart to inherit the crown if he converted to Protestantism. On 14 May, Harley delivered his maiden speech in which he reminded the House of recent Tory persecutions (such as the harsh punishment of Monmouth's followers) and said that this injustice must be remedied.[6]
After a series of French victories in Flanders during the early years of the Nine Years' War, Harley believed that the subordination of English soldiers to Dutch officers was the cause of the heavy English casualties. He, therefore, proposed a motion that future appointments of English foot regiments should be manned by Englishmen, which the House passed on 23 November 1692.[7] He also opposed Lord Somers' proposed Abjuration Bill. If passed, this would have compelled office-holders to take an oath against recognising James II as the lawful king upon penalty of dismissal and imprisonment on the first refusal, with the penalties of high treason upon the second refusal.[8]
During the early 1690s, Harley became a leader, second only to Paul Foley, of the 'Old Whigs' who were willing to cooperate with Tories in pursuing 'Country Party' measures against the ministerial or court Whigs in office, the so-called Whig Junto.[9] In December 1690 he was elected to the Commission of Public Accounts to "examine, take and state" the accounts of the realm since William's accession, as expenditure had ballooned.[10]
Harley supported a Bill to exclude from the Commons holders of government office and placemen in an effort to weaken court patronage. In taking part in the debates, Harley wrote: "I hope we have shown the parts of honest men and lovers of our country".[8] He also supported the Triennial Bill to limit the maximum life of a Parliament to three years. In the Commons in early 1693, he claimed that long parliaments were not as representative as short-lived ones and he drew from his pocket a copy of King William's Declaration of 1688 in which he had promised frequent parliaments.[11]
In 1696 Harley advocated the founding of a Land Bank that would serve the agricultural interest as the Bank of England served the monied interest.[12]
After the general election of 1698, Harley emerged as the leader of the combined Country Whig-Tory opposition alliance against the Junto, or what Harley called the 'New Country Party'. Also in this year, he began his association with Sidney Godolphin, and through him ultimate entry into the circle around Princess Anne.[13]
In November 1698 and in January 1700 Harley was approached by the ministry to accept office in the government, on the latter occasion being offered the Secretaryship of State. He refused on both occasions as he did not want to serve with the Whigs.
Speaker of the House of Commons: 1701–1705
After the general election of February 1701, he held the office of
As Speaker of the first Parliament, Harley oversaw the passage of the Act of Settlement 1701, as previously agreed with King William. Harley was pleased that both the Whigs and the Tories had agreed on placing further limits on the power of the crown and he was reported to have said that "he hoped in a little time our infamous distinctions and parties, but particularly Jacobitism, should be wholly abolished and extirpated".[16]
Northern Secretary: 1704–1708
Harley was an early practitioner of 'spin'; he recognised the political importance of careful management of the media. In 1703 Harley first made use of Daniel Defoe's talents as a political writer.[17] This proved so successful that he was later to employ both Delarivier Manley and Jonathan Swift to pen pamphlets for him for use against his many opponents in politics.
During the time of his office, the
For some time, so long indeed as the victories of the great English general cast a glamour over the policy of his friends, Harley continued to act loyally with his colleagues. But in the summer of 1707, it became evident to
Both the Duchess and Godolphin were convinced that this change in the disposition of the queen was due to the influence of Harley and his relatives, but he was permitted to remain in office. Later, an ill-paid and poverty-stricken clerk, William Gregg, in Harley's office, was found to have given the French enemy copies of many documents which should have been kept from the knowledge of all but the most trusted advisers of the court, and it was found that through the carelessness of the head of the department the contents of such papers became the common property of all in his service. The celebrated author Daniel Defoe, then an employee of Harley's, had warned that his lax security was an invitation to treason.[18] The Queen was informed by Godolphin and Marlborough that they would no longer serve with Harley. They did not attend her next council, on 8 February 1708, and when Harley proposed to proceed with the business of the day the Duke of Somerset drew attention to their absence. The Queen found herself forced (11 February) to accept the resignations of both Harley and Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke.
Thomson criticizes Harley's tenure at the Northern Department, calling him "culpably negligent in the conduct of his business". In addition to citing the lax security already mentioned, Thomson writes that Harley "so arranged matters that the unhappy clerks in his office could not begin work until midnight or a little before and so were unable to leave till dawn. Even where there was nothing to do, they were kept in attendance until about three in the morning".[19]
Opposition: 1708–1710
Harley was forced from office, but his cousin Abigail, who had recently married, continued in the Queen's service. Harley employed her influence without scruple, and not in vain. The cost of the protracted war with France, and the danger to the national church, the chief proof of which lay in the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, were the weapons which he used to influence the masses of the people. Marlborough himself could not be displaced, but his relations were dismissed from their posts in turn. When the greatest of these, Lord Godolphin, was ejected from office on 10 August 1710, five commissioners to the treasury were appointed; among them was Harley as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Chancellor of the Exchequer: 1710–1711
It was the aim of the new chancellor to frame an administration from the moderate members of both parties, and to adopt with but slight changes the policy of his predecessors; but his efforts were doomed to disappointment.[20] The Whigs refused to join an alliance with him, and the Tories, who were successful beyond their wildest hopes at the polling booths, could not understand why their leaders did not adopt a policy more favourable to the interests of their party.
The clamours of the wilder spirits, the country members who met at the October Club, began to be re-echoed even by those who were attached to the person of Harley, when, through an unexpected event, his popularity was restored at a bound. A French refugee, the former
One of the most pressing problems at this time was the major crisis in public finance caused by the need to pay for the war against France.[21] The architect of Great Britain's finance was Lord Halifax, and he wrote to Harley on the day that the new Treasury board met: "Your great abilities and your knowledge of the Revenue, will soon make you master of all the business, but how you will restore credit, and find money for the demands that will be upon you exceeds my capacity".[22] Harley in 1711 created the South Sea Company to handle the national debt—it proved highly successful (at first—the notorious "bubble" began in 1720).[23] He succeeded in restoring confidence under his tenure; whereas the Jacobite invasion scare of 1708 and the alarm caused by the Queen's illness in early 1714 both caused runs on the bank, Godolphin's fall did not precipitate one.[21]
Lord High Treasurer: 1711–1714
On 23 May 1711 the minister became Baron Harley, of Wigmore in the County of Hereford, and Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (the latter, despite its form, being a single peerage). Harley claimed the title of Oxford because of his relationship through marriage to the previous holders, the De Veres. The title of Earl Mortimer was added in case a claim was laid to the Oxford earldom.
A further attempt was made on his life in November with the Bandbox Plot, in which a hat-box, armed with loaded pistols to be triggered by a thread within the package was sent to him; the assassination attempt was forestalled by the prompt intervention of Jonathan Swift.
With the sympathy which these attempted assassinations had evoked, and with the skill which the Lord Treasurer possessed for conciliating the calmer members of either political party, he passed several months in office without any loss of reputation. He rearranged the nation's finances, and continued to support her generals in the field with ample resources for carrying on the campaign, though his emissaries were in communication with the French King, and were settling the terms of a peace independently of England's allies. After many weeks of vacillation and intrigue, when the negotiations were frequently on the point of being interrupted, the preliminary peace was signed, and in spite of the opposition of the Whig majority in the
While these negotiations were under discussion, the friendship between Harley (Oxford) and St John, the latter who had become Secretary of State in September 1710, was fast changing into hatred. The latter had resented the rise in fortune which the stabs of Guiscard had secured for his colleague Harley, and when he was raised to the peerage with the title of Baron St John and Viscount Bolingbroke, instead of with an Earldom, his resentment knew no bounds. The royal favourite, Abigail, whose husband had been called to the Upper House as Baron Masham, deserted her old friend and relation for his more vivacious rival. The Jacobites found that, although the Lord Treasurer was profuse in his expressions of goodwill for their cause, no steps were taken to ensure its triumph, and they no longer placed reliance on promises which were repeatedly made and repeatedly broken. Even Harley's (Oxford's) friends began to complain of his dilatoriness, and to find some excuse for his apathy in ill health, aggravated by excess in the pleasures of the table and by the loss of his favourite child. The confidence of Queen Anne was gradually transferred from Oxford to Bolingbroke; on 27 July 1714 the former surrendered his staff as lord treasurer, and on 1 August the queen died.
Imprisonment: 1715–1717
On the accession of
Not long after he was detained a major Jacobite Rising occurred and was defeated. Interrogators of Jacobite prisoners tried to discover if there was a connection with Harley in the plan, but none could be established.[28] This significantly delayed Harley's trial, as priority was given to the leading rebels, several of whom were executed. This may have benefited him as the angry mood amongst Whigs against him had calmed by 1717.[29]
Harley also benefited from the Whig Split between rival factions led by James Stanhope and Robert Walpole. Walpole and his supporters went into opposition and joined with the Tories to attack Stanhope's government on many issues.
After an imprisonment of nearly two years, Harley was formally acquitted of the charges of high treason and high crimes and misdemeanours for which he had been impeached two years earlier, and allowed to resume his place among the peers.
Later life: 1717–1724
Immediately following his release Oxford was informed by George I that he was no longer welcome at court.
Literary importance
Harley's importance to literature cannot be overstated. As a patron of the arts, he was notable. As a preservationist, he was invaluable. He used his wealth and power to collect an unparalleled library. He commissioned the creation of ballad collections, such as
When he was in office, Harley promoted the careers of
In the opinion of the historian
Family
In May 1685 Harley married as his first wife Elizabeth, a daughter of
- Abigail (1685? - 15 July 1750), who married George Hay, later 8th Earl of Kinnoull in 1709.
- Henrietta Cavendish Hollesand succeeded as 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.
- Elizabeth (2 June 1689-20 November 1713), who married Peregrine Osborne, later 3rd Duke of Leeds in 1712; and
- Robert, who died in infancy in 1690.
They lived at Brampton Bryan Hall, which he inherited from his father in 1700.
After Elizabeth's death, Harley married Sarah (died 17 June 1737), daughter of Simon Middleton of Edmonton, London, on 18 September 1694. They had no children.[33] He died in 1724 at his house in Albemarle Street, Westminster, and was buried in the churchyard of St Barnabas, Brampton Bryan, Herefordshire.
See also
Notes
- ^ E. S. Roscoe, Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, Prime Minister, 1710–14 (London: Methuen, 1902).
- ISBN 978-0-300-04284-9. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ a b c Hill, p. 10.
- ^ House of Commons 1690–1715 Volume 1 p.244
- ^ Hill, pp. 17–18.
- ^ Hill, p. 18.
- ^ Hill, p. 30.
- ^ a b Hill, p. 31.
- ^ Hill, p. 26, pp. 33–34.
- ^ Hill, p. 24.
- ^ Hill, p. 32.
- ^ Hill, pp. 44–45.
- ^ Hill, p. 55.
- ^ Hill, p. 58, pp. 59–60.
- ^ Hill, p. 63.
- ^ Hill, p. 66.
- S2CID 258875615.
- ^ DNBO1 reference to William Gregg
- ^ Thomson, Mark A. (1932). The Secretaries of State: 1681-1782. London: Frank Cass. p. 19.
- ^ Hill, p. 131.
- ^ a b Hill, p. 134.
- ^ Hill, p. 136.
- ^ Roscoe, 1902, pp 146–51.
- ^ Hill, p. 152.
- ^ Earl of Oxford and E. Mortimer impeached. at the journal of the House of Lords.
- ^ Hill p.227-228
- ^ Hill p.228
- ^ Hill p.229
- ^ Hill p.229
- ^ Hill p.230
- ^ Illuminated manuscripts: a guide to the British Library’s collections Archived 2 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine British Library Illuminated Manuscripts; The Foundation Collections
- ^ David C. Douglas, English Scholars. 1660–1730. Second, revised edition (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1951), p. 263.
- ^ a b "Oxford, Earl of, and Mortimer, Earl (GB, 1711 – 1853)". Cracroft's Peerage. 31 January 2004. Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
References
- ISBN 0-300-04284-1
- E. S. Roscoe, Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, Prime Minister, 1710–14 (London: Methuen, 1902). Appendices: I. Swift's character of the Earl of Oxford.--II. Money lent to the Queen by the Earl of Oxford.--III. Note on the manuscripts and letters of and relating to Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford. online
- W. A. Speck, ‘Harley, Robert, first earl of Oxford and Mortimer (1661–1724)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2007, accessed 18 January 2011.
Further reading
Biographies
- Biddle, Sheila. Bolingbroke and Harley (London: Allen & Unwin, 1975).
- Downie, J. A. Robert Harley and the Press (Cambridge University Press, 1979).
- Hamilton, Elizabeth. The Backstairs Dragon: A Life of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford (Hamish Hamilton, 1969).
- McInnes, Angus. Robert Harley: Puritan Politician (Littlehampton Book Services, 1970).
- Miller, O.B. Robert Harley Earl of Oxford. The Stanhope Prize Essay, 1925 (Oxford: Blackwell, 1925).
Background studies
- Bennett, Gareth Vaughan. "Robert Harley, the Godolphin ministry, and the bishoprics crisis of 1707." The English Historical Review 82.325 (1967): 726–746. in JSTOR
- Cobbett, William, Thomas B. Howell, and J. Thomas, State Trials (London: 1809–26, part of a 34 vol. series).
- Feiling, Keith. A History of the Tory Party, 1640–1714 (1924).
- Davies, Godfrey. "The Fall of Harley in 1708." The English Historical Review 66.259 (1951): 246–254. in JSTOR
- Gregg, Edward. Queen Anne (1980)
- Geoffrey Holmes, 'Harley, St John and the Death of the Tory Party', in Geoffrey Holmes (ed.), Britain after the Glorious Revolution 1689–1714 (London: Macmillan, 1969), pp. 216–237.
- Holmes, Geoffrey S., and William Arthur Speck. "The Fall of Harley in 1708 Reconsidered." The English Historical Review 80.317 (1965): 673–698. in JSTOR
- Holmes, Geoffrey. British politics in the age of Anne (A&C Black, 1987).
- Hoppit, Julian. A land of liberty?: England 1689–1727 (Oxford UP, 2000).
- Johnson, Richard R. "Politics Redefined: An Assessment of Recent Writings on the Late Stuart Period of English History, 1660 to 1714." The William and Mary Quarterly (1978): 691–732. in JSTOR
- William Edward Hartpole Lecky. History of England in the Eighteenth Century. London, 1878–90
- Thomas B. Macaulay, History of England (London, 1855).
- McInnes, Angus. "The Appointment of Harley in 1704." The Historical Journal 11.2 (1968): 255–271. in JSTOR
- MacLachlan, A. D. 'The Road to Peace 1710–13', in Geoffrey Holmes (ed.), Britain after the Glorious Revolution 1689–1714 (London: Macmillan, 1969), pp. 197–215.
- Roberts, Clayton. "The Fall of the Godolphin Ministry." The Journal of British Studies 22.1 (1982): 71–93. in JSTOR
- Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, History of England, Comprising the Reign of Queen Anne until the Peace of Utrecht (London: 1870).
- Snyder, Henry L. "Godolphin and Harley: A Study of Their Partnership in Politics." The Huntington Library Quarterly (1967): 241–271. in JSTOR
- Sundstrom, Roy A. Sidney Godolphin: Servant of the state (University of Delaware Press, 1992).
- Trevelyan, G.M. England under Queen Anne (3 v 1930–34).
public domain: Courtney, William Prideaux (1911). "Oxford, Robert Harley, 1st Earl of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). pp. 403–404.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the