Robert Mansell
Sir Robert Mansell | |
---|---|
Vice-Admiral | |
Battles/wars | Anglo-Spanish War |
Sir Robert Mansell (1573–1656) was an admiral of the English
Early life
Mansel was a Welshman, the son of Sir Edward Mansel of
Duel
In October 1600, Sir Robert's quarrel with a Norfolk neighbour, Sir John Heydon, ended in a notorious duel. Heydon's brother,
Political and business career
In 1601, Mansel stood for Parliament as a candidate for
He accompanied the Earl of Nottingham on his mission to Spain in 1605. Like several Jacobean courtiers and officials, Mansell received gifts of money from Spanish diplomats between 1604 and 1625.[3]
In January 1606 he and his nephew, Lewis Mansell, were two of the nobles who performed for the court in 'Hymenaei', a masque written by Ben Jonson for the marriage of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and Lady Frances Howard.[4] In August 1606 he escorted Christian IV back to Denmark with the Vanguard and the Moon.[5]
In 1609, his name appears on the Second Charter of Virginia dated 23 May 1609. As investor (London Company) and on the council.
As treasurer of the navy Robert Mansell was granted funds for "the naval fight to be had upon the river of Thames, for the more magnificent and royal solemnizing of the marriage of the Lady Elizabeth" in February 1613.[6] The show was partly the work of the naval architect Phineas Pett.[7]
In 1613, he was accused of political disaffection and imprisoned in the
In 1618, Mansel was appointed Vice-Admiral of England in 1618, and ceased to be Treasurer of the Navy. Contemporary papers suggest this was not in fact intended as a promotion, and that he was deliberately moved to a less influential position because of suspicions of his dishonest administration as treasurer. Nevertheless, he apparently retained royal favour, even after the failure of the expedition he led against the pirates of Algiers in 1621.
In 1620, his name appears on the Charter of New England 3 November 1620. As investor (Plymouth Company) and on the council.
In 1620 (Oct), he led a force of the King's warships to the Barbary coast in an effort to find English slaves taken from the shores of the South West.
Personal life
Sir Robert married twice: first to Elizabeth Bacon, daughter of
He died in 1656.
Honors
In 1613, Mansel Island in Nunavut, Canada was named in his honor by Sir Thomas Button.[11]
References
- ^ Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. .
- ^ Linda Levy Peck, Court Patronage and Corruption in Early Stuart England (Routledge, London, 1993), p. 117.
- ^ Óscar Alfredo Ruiz Fernández, England and Spain in the Early Modern Era: Royal Love, Diplomacy, Trade and Naval Relations (London: Bloomsbury, 2020), p. 110.
- ^ Lesley Mickel, 'Glorious Spangs and Rich Embroidery: Costume in The Masque of Blackness and Hymenaei', Studies in the Literary Imagination, 36:2 (2003).
- ^ John S. Brewer, Court of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1839), p. 143: Thomas Birch, Court and Times of James the First, vol. 1 (London, 1848), pp. 65–7.
- ^ "Frederick Devon, Issues of Exchequer: Pell Records' (London, 1836), pp. 158-9.
- ^ John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), pp. 527-30.
- ^ "House of Commons Journal Volume 2: 15 April 1642". British History Online. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ^ Saint, A., Guillery, P. (ed.), Woolwich - Survey of London, Volume 48, Yale Books, London, 2012, p. 41.
- ^ Daniel Lysons, The Environs of London: Counties of Herts, Essex & Kent, vol. 4 (London, 1796), p. 475.
- ^
Hood, Robert; C. Stuart Houston (1994). To the Arctic by Canoe, 1819-1821: The Journal and Paintings of Robert Hood, Midshipman with Franklin. McGill-Queen's Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-7735-1222-1. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
...named by Button in 1613, after Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Mansel (1573-1653).
- Concise Dictionary of National Biography(1930)
- J. E. Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
- [https://biography.wales/article/s-MANS-ROB-1573 Robert Mansel on Dictionary of Welsh Biography
- Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) [1]
- Second charter of Virginia - Yale Law School [2]
- Charter of New England - Yale Law School [3]