Transcript:Cokayne, George Edward. Complete Baronetage/England

Watchers
Source Cokayne, George Edward. Complete Baronetage, 1611-1800
Places England
Year range 1611 - 1707

Contents

[edit]

Complete Baronetage.

{The notes and memoranda for the Baronetcies of England from volumes I–IV are transcribed below.—Transcr.}

[edit]

Baronetcies of England.
1611–1707.

[volume 1, page 1]

[edit]

[FIRST PART,
VIZ.,] CREATIONS BY JAMES I.
22 May 1611 to 27 March 1625.

Note (b).—It appears to have been by Francis Bacon's advice, given in 1606 (some five or six years before it was carried into effect) that the order of Baronets was instituted ; so that “ it is not surprising to find that the first of the new dignity was Sir Nicholas Bacon,” his eldest brother, and the head of the family. See Notes and Queries, 3d S., xii, 168.
Note (c).—He was the first of a batch of eighteen persons with whom the order originated. This was followed, about five weeks later (29 June 1611), by a larger batch of fifty-two (53 according to Dugdale and others, who, erroneously, include “ Dallison ” therein), and, subsequently, on 24 Sep. by one of four, and on 25 Nov. following by one of seventeen, after which creations (91 in all, ending with that of Holte, all being in 1611), each creation in this reign, and for the most part in those following, is dated on a separate day. There were “ twenty-two patents originally intended for the first seal (22 May 1611), of which four “ were stayed ” viz., those for (1) Sir George Trenchard, of Wolverton, Dorset ; (2) his son in law, Sir John Strangways, of Melbury in that county, “ subsequently conspicuous for his opposition to the measures of the Court ”; (3) Sir Thomas Walsingham, of Scadbury, Kent, who d. 1639, aged 69 ; (4) Sir Thomas' cousin german (by the mother), Sir Thomas Barnardiston, of Ketton, Suffolk, who d. 23 Dec., 1619, two of whose great grandsons were, in 1663, created Baronets. See a fuller account in Her. et Gen., iii, 208–212.

[volume 2, page 1]

[edit]

SECOND PART,
VIZ., CREATIONS BY CHARLES I.
27 March 1625 to 30 Jan. 1648/9.

The number of Baronetcies of England that had been created by James I was 204, not reckoning therein the Baronetcy of Vavasour, which was in fact created by his successor, 22 June 1631, tho' with the precedency of 29 June 1611. James had undertaken that the number should not exceed 200, and, allowing for six which had become extinct, they did not exceed 198 at his death. “ Charles I, however, had not been long on the throne, when, relying on his royal prerogative as the Fountain of Honour, he disregarded the stipulated limitation of the number of Baronets.” [Her. and Gen., vol. iii, p. 346.]

[volume 2, page 84]

Memorandum.—In and after May 1641 down to the end of the reign of Charles I the enrolment of any patent was the exception. Among the 116 Baronetcies that are given in the Creations, 1483–1646 (ap. 47th Rep. D.K. Pub. Records) as having been created during that period, no patents, in as many as 85 cases, are enrolled, though, as to 67, the date of the signet bill, warrant, or privy seal is therein given as under, viz., Every, 21 May 1641 ; Napier, 23 June 1641 ; Yelverton, 27 June 1641 ; Cave, 28 June 1641 ; Hatton, 2 July 1641 ; Boteler, 3 July 1641 ; Abdy, 5 July (Qy. June) 1641 ; Cotton, 10 July 1641 ; Bamfeild, 12 July 1641 ; Thynne, Dewes, and Burgoyne, 13 July 1641 ; Drake, 14 July 1641 ; Rous, 16 July 1641 ; Pratt, and Sydenham, 19 July 1641 ; Norwich, and Nichols, 22 July 1641 ; Brownlow, 23 July 1641 ; Hare, Northcote, and [another] Brownlow, 24 July 1641 ; Strickland, 29 July 1641 ; Windham, Mauleverer, Knatchbull, Chichester, and Boughton, 31 July 1641 ; Wolryche, 2 Aug. 1641 ; Pryse, and Carew, 6 Aug. 1641 ; Cholmeley, Spring, and Castleton, 7 Aug. 1641 ; Trevor, 11 Aug. 1641 ; Davie, 11 Aug. 1641 ; Bindlosse, 13 Aug. 1611 ; Meux, 8 Dec. 1641 ; Willys, 13 Dec. 1641 ; Halford, 16 Dec. 1641 ; Cowper, and Thomas, 28 Feb. 1641/2 ; Dawney and Hamilton, 3 May 1642 ; Morgan, Kemeys, and Williams, 11 May 1642 ; Reresby, 14 May 1642 ; Moore, 16 May 1642 ; Hampson, 20 May 1642 ; Hardres and Williamson, 22 May 1642 ; Denny, 26 May 1642 ; Alston, 28 (?) May 1642 ; Lowther, 31 May 1642 ; Middleton, 10 June 1642 ; Payler, 15 June 1642 ; Corbett, [—] June 1642 ; Rudston, 6 Aug. 1642 ; Hungate, and Thorold, 10 Aug. 1642 ; Anderson, 30 June 1643 ; Jones, 24 July 1643 ; Bate, 2 Nov. 1643 ; O'Neale, 9 Nov. 1643 ; Hickman, 11 Nov. 1643, and Boteler, 30 Nov. 1643. To the above 67 Baronetcies must be added the 18 (with which the abovenamed list of Creations, 1483–1646 concludes), of which neither patent, signet bill, warrant nor privy seal are enrolled, though the docquet of the creation is noticed in a publication generally known as Black's Docquets.(b) These are as under, viz. :— Vavasour, 17 July 1643 ; Waldegrave, 1 Aug. 1643 ; Pate, 28 Oct. 1643 ; Acton, 17 Jan. 1643/4 ; Hawley, 14 March 1643/4 ; Preston, 1 April 1644 ; Prestwich, 25 April 1644 ; Williams, 4 May 1644 ; Thorold and Lucas, 14 June 1644 ; Bard, 8 Oct. 1644 ; Van Colster, 28 Feb. 1644/5 ; De Boreel, 21 March 1644/5 ; Carteret, 9 May 1645 ; Windebanke, 25 Nov. 1645 ; Wright, 7 Feb. 1645/6 ; Charlton, 6 March 1645/6 ; and Willis, 11 June 1646.

“ A CATALOGUE OF THE BARONETS OF ENGLAND ” was (according to a statement made in Dugdale's Ancient Usage of Arms), “ published by authority in 1667,” being revised some “ 12 years and more ” later [1681 ?]. This purports to be a “ catalogue of such, touching whom the docquet books remaining with the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery do take notice.”(c) In this catalogue there are [page 85] as many as nineteen Baronetcies (whose existence for the most part has never been questioned) which are not named in the abovementioned list of the Creations, 1483–1646. These are :—Strutt, 5 March 1641/2 ; St. Quintin, 8 March 1641/2 ; Kempe, 14 March 1641/2 ; Reade, 16 March 1641/2 ; Enyon, 9 April 1642 ; Williams, 19 April 1642 ; Wintour, 29 April 1642 ; Borlase, 4 May 1642 ; Knollys, 6 May 1642 ; Ingelby, 17 May 1642 ; Widdrington [of Widdrington], 9 July 1642 ; Valckenburg and Constable, 20 July 1642 ; Blakiston, or Blackstone, 30 July 1642 ; Widdrington [of Cartington], 8 Aug. 1642 ; Markham and Lennard, 15 Aug. 1642 ; Bland, 30 Aug. 1642, and Throckmorton, 1 Sep. 1642. It is accordingly thought better, on and after the date of May 1641 when the enrolments are so very irregular, to follow this official (or semi-official) Catalogue as given by Dugdale (referring to it as “ Dugdale's Catalogue ”), which includes the above-named nineteen Baronetcies, indispersed among those mentioned in the list of Creations, 1483–1646. There are, however, many other Baronetcies conferred during the Civil Wars which are not comprehended in this Catalogue (e.g., Bathurst, Cokayne, Courtenay, Haggerston, Lloyd, etc.) which will be here dealt with at the end of those given by Dugdale.

Note (b).—“ Docquets of letters patent and other instruments passed under the Great Seal of King Charles I, at Oxford in the years 1642, 1643, 1644, 1645 and 1646,” edited by Mr. Black, an assistant keeper of the Public Records, from the original Crown office docquet book at that time preserved in the Ashmolean Museum, at Oxford.
Note (c).—It is as well, perhaps, to quote Dugdale's own words from his “ Preface ” to the said catalogue, as given in the edition [p. 67] of his Ancient Usage of Arms, edited by “ T. C. Banks, Esq.” (folio 1812) :—“ Whereas in the year 1667, a catalogue of the Baronets of England was by authority published, to the end that such as had [page 85] obtained patents for that honour, which were not enrolled, should, by descerning an omission of their names therein, take care to supply that defect, so that upon a second impression thereof they might be inserted. Now, whereas, after 12 years and more, no enrollments are yet to be found for sundry persons which have assumed this title, which causeth some to doubt whether they can make any justifiable claims thereto. Whereas, therefore, no person [sic] whatsoever ought to take upon them [sic] this title of dignity, but such as have been really advanced thereto by letters patent under the Great Seal of England, it is thought fit by the Rt. Hon. Robert, Earl of Aylesbury, who, now excerciseth [i.e. as a Joint Commissioner, 30 June 1673] the office of Earl Marshall of England, that this present catalogue of such touching whom the Docquet books remaining with the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery do take notice, shall be published, to the end that those, of whom no memorial upon record is to be found to justifie their right to the title, may be known ; and care henceforth taken in commissions of the peace and otherwise that it be not given unto them until they shall manifest the same unto the Lord Chancellor of England and have speciall order from his Lordship to enroll such patents where they pretend title to that dignity. As also that regard be had of giving credit to any other catalogues of the Baronets which are already publisht, or that shall be publisht, than what is taken from the authority of those Docquet books above mentioned or the enrollment of their patents.”

[volume 2, page 152]

Memorandum.—All Baronetcies conferred by Charles I, after 4 Jan. 1641/2,(a) were (until the Restoration) disallowed under the act of [the Rump] Parl. dated 4 Feb. 1651/2, whereby “ all and every honours, titles, dignities and precedences whatsoever granted, confirmed and given by the late King since 4 Jan. 1641 ” were made “ null and void ” ; no one, after 25 March 1652, being allowed to assume them ; each Peer so doing to forfeit £100, each Baronet or Knight to forfeit £40 ; all such patents to be brought into the Court of Chancery so that they might be cancelled.

All Royalist Baronetcies conferred after 22 May 1642(a) had previously been so disallowed by Parl., 11 Nov. 1643, under the act which made void “ all grants since 22 May 1642 of any honours, dignities, baronies, hereditaments or other thing whatsoever to any person or persons which have voluntarily contributed, or shall voluntarily contribute any aid or assistance to the maintenance of the unnatural war raised against the Parliament.” The new Great Seal “ already made and provided [i.e., on 28 Sep. 1643] was then placed in the hands of six Commissioners for use. Thus, for nearly three years there were two (rival) Great Seals of England, until, on 11 Aug. 1646, the King's Great Seal (which was taken at Oxford) was broken to pieces with great solemnity in the presence of both houses of Parl. After that date this seal of 1643 would, presumably, be, even after the Restoration of the Monarchy, considered as the legitimate Great Seal of the realm, but it seems a moot point how far the Parliamentary Great Seal, when for nearly three years (1643–1646) it ran concurrently with, and often in opposition to, that of the King, would be thus acknowledged. On 9 Jan. 1648/9, a new Great Seal was ordered. [Ex inform. W. D. Pink].

Note (a).—There is some reason for the selection of the date of 22 May 1642, but there is none for that of the earlier date of 4 Jan. 1641/2. “ By no manner of reasoning could it be pretended that Grants and Patents which had passed the (one) Great Seal between Jan. and May 1642, when that Seal was in actual attendance upon Parl. could be illegal.” The date of 4 Jan. 1641/2, however, appears to have been chosen as being that on which the King attempted the arrest of the five members of the House of Commons, and so to have been looked on as the date of the commencement of the Civil War, after which everything done by the King alone was considered illegal. The fixing of this early date (4 Jan. 1641/2) was an afterthought, enacted nine years after the later date, 22 May 1642, had been fixed upon on the much more intelligible ground, as being that on which the Great Seal was held to have deserted the Parl. on its having been delivered by Lord Keeper Lyttelton to the King at York. [Ex inform. W. D. Pink].

[volume 2, page 236]

[edit]
Baronetcies [E.] not on record, 1640–1648 ;
ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.

Memorandum.—There are some Baronetcies conferred shortly before or during the Civil War, of which not only the patents (which possibly in many cases had never passed the Seals), but not even the docquets or warrants were enrolled, and which are not mentioned in Dugdale's carefully compiled Catalogue of the Baronets of England, as to which see Memorandum on p. 84. A complete, or even approximately complete, list of these is unattainable, but there seems reason to believe that the following persons obtained, or at all events had the Royal warrant for, Baronetcies. The unlawful assumption of titles, which was so common in the nineteenth and even in the eighteenth century, was not usual in the seventeenth ; and it will be observed that the position of the parties who thus styled themselves, and were recognised as, Baronets, was such as to render it unlikely that they would expose themselves to the ridicule and contempt attending such assumption. At the same time it is evident that in the cases of some of them (e.g., in those of Acland, Boothby, and Edwards, where a patent de novo was granted with a clause giving the precedency of the former creation), the grant of the dignity by Charles I was not held to be sufficient ; while on the contrary, the sufficiency of the creation of others has been generally acknowledged. Each case therefore should be judged separately. The dates of these Baronetcies, not being in many cases ascertainable, the names are here given in alphabetical order.

[volume 3, page 1]

[edit]

THIRD PART,
VIZ., CREATIONS,
30 Jan. 1648/9 to 31 Dec. 1664.(a)

Note (a).—The date of 31 Dec. 1664 has been arbitrarily selected as comprising (notwithstanding the chronological disparity of the division) an approximate half of the number of Baronetcies of the three Realms created between 30 Jan. 1648/9 (the death of Charles I) and 1 May 1707, the date of the Scotch Union, after which epoch the creation of Scotch Baronetcies ceased. The remaining portion (1 Jan. 1664/5 to 1 May 1707) will be contained in the next volume.

{Some of the notes in the following Memorandum have been re-lettered for clarity.—Transcr.}

[Memorandum. The valuable list of the “ Creations of Peers and Baronets compiled from original documents in the Public Record Office, 1483–1646,” by R. Douglas Trimmer (issued in the appendix to the Forty-seventh Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records), having come to an end with the creations of Charles I, the most reliable list for the subsequent creations of English Baronetcies appears to be the Catalogue of the Baronets of this Kingdom of England, etc., until 6 Dec. 1681, compiled by the well known Sir William Dugdale, Garter King of Arms, 1677–86. From this Catalogue, therefore, the descriptions, when placed within inverted commas, of the grantees of Charles II, from 1 Sep. 1649 to 6 Dec. 1681, are taken, as, likewise, from the continuation (hereafter mentioned) of this Catalogue are those of Cromwell's grantees as well as those of the grantees of Baronetcies of England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom from 20 Jan. 1681/2 to 29 Sep. 1809, the conclusion of this continuation. “ The preface,” by Dugdale, to the abovenamed Catalogue is as follows :—

“ Whereas in the year 1667 a Catalogue of the Baronets of England was by authority published, to the end that such as had obtained patents for that Honour, which were not enrolled, should, by descerning an omission of their names therein, take care to supply that defect, so that upon a second impression thereof they might be inserted ; Now whereas, after twelve years and more, no enrolments are yet to be found for sundry persons who have assumed this Title, which causeth some to doubt whether they can make any justifiable claims thereto.

“ Whereas therefore no person whatsoever ought to take upon them this Title of dignity but such as have been really advanced thereto by Letters patent under the Great Seal of England, it is thought fit by the Right Hon. Robert, Earl of Aylesbury,(b) who now exerciseth the office of Earl Marshall of England, that this present Catalogue of such touching whom the docquet books, remaining with the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, do take notice, shall be published, to the end that those, of whom no memorial upon Record is to be found to justifie their right to [page 2] this title, may be known ; and care henceforth taken in commissions of the peace and otherwise that it be not given unto them until they shall manifest the same unto the Lord Chancellor of England and have special order from his Lordship to enroll such patents, whereby they pretend Title to that dignity.

“ As also that regard he had of giving credit to any other Catalogues of the Baronets which are already publisht, or that shall be publisht, than what is taken from the authority of those docquet books above mentioned or the enrollment of their Patents.”

An extract from a letter of Dugdale [Hist. MSS., Twelfth Report, App. vii, p. 187], which supplements this matter, is kindly supplied by J. Horace Round. It is written from the Heralds' College, 3 June 1682 :—“ We have also a note of a greater number, which do take upon them the title of Baronets from the late King to pass patents for that title but did not proceed any further therein.”

Dugdale's Catalogue of English Baronets, which (as above stated) ends 6 Dec. 1681, has been continued by “ T. C. Banks, Esq.,” in his edition [folio 1812] of Dugdale's Ancient usage in bearing Arms, down to the end of those creations, 27 June 1706. To this is appended a list of the Baronetcies of Great Britain, 1707–1800, of those of the United Kingdom, from 20 March 1801 to 29 Sep. 1809, as also of those conferred by the Lord Protector Cromwell, 1657–1658.

During the interval that elapsed between the death of Charles I, 30 Jan. 1648/9, and the Restoration of Charles II to the Crown, 29 May 1660, Baronetcies were created by two parties—(1) by the young King during his exile (which Baronetcies though not recognised on their creation became valid after the Restoration), and (2) by the actual Ruler (in possession) of the Realm. For the first eight years however of the [so called] Commonwealth, no Baronetcies or other hereditary honours(c) were created by the existing Powers. It was not till after the date, 25 May 1657, of the Petition and Advice and the commencement of what is termed the Second Protectorate (the first being 12 Dec. 1653) that Oliver Cromwell (who had previously conferred the life honour of Knighthood) took on himself to confer hereditary honours. There is nothing in the Petition and Advice which specially gives such authority to the Protector, unless indeed the fact that thereby a House of Lords was created implies that hereditary dignities were to be revived. Anyhow, the Viscountcy of Howard of Morpeth (conferred on Charles Howard, 20 July 1657) and the Baronetcies of Read and Claypole (25 June and 20 July 1657) may be looked upon as somewhat in the light of the Protector's Coronation honours.

The best authority for the Cromwellian creations appears to be Masson's Life of Milton(d) in which 11 Baronetcies are stated to have been thus created, viz., Read, Cleypole, Chamberlayne (25 June, 20 July, and 6 Oct. 1657), Beaumont (5 March 1657/8), Ingoldsby, Twisleton, Wright, Williams, Prideaux, Ellis and Wyndham (10 April [ter] 28 May, 13 Aug. [bis] and 28 Aug. 1658). Of these eleven, the Baronetcy of Wyndham is omitted in Noble's Cromwell (vol. i, pp. 439–442, edit. 1787), while Baronetcies ascribed to Dunch and Willis (certainly in error) and to Lenthal (presumably in error) are therein inserted.(e) There was also another creation in 1658, viz., that of Massingberd. All the Cromwellian Baronetcies became, of course, invalid on the Restoration of Monarchy, 29 May 1660. The date of their creation (1657–1658) is later than that of many Baronetcies which were conferred by the young King during his exile, but, for the sake of convenience, they will here be dealt with first.]

Note (b) {from p. 1}.—Appointed Joint Commissioner for the office of Earl Marshal, 20 June 1673.
Note (c) {originally note “ a,” from p. 2}.—Several Knighthoods however had been conferred by the Speaker of the House of Commons, after the death of Charles I and before the Accession, 12 Dec. 1653, of Oliver Cromwell to the Protectorship, who after such succession himself conferred that honour.
Note (d) {originally note “ b,” from p. 2}.—Masson, who is eminently painstaking and careful, states that the list is the best he has been able to put together. It is mostly the same as that in the [old] Parl. History (vol. xxi, p. 220), where these creations stand thus : 1656 [sic] June 25, Read ; 1657, July 16, Cleypole ; Oct. 6, Chamberlain ; Nov. 5, Beaumont ; Nov. 24, Twisleton ; 1658, March 31, Ingoldsby and Wright ; May 28, Williams ; Aug. 13, Prideaux and Ellis : Aug. 28, Wyndham. The first date herein (1656) is clearly wrong.
Note (e) {originally note “ c,” from p. 2}.—The editor is indebted to W. D. Pink for much information as to the Cromwellian creations.

[volume 3, page 3]

[edit]
CREATIONS By Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, 1657–1658.

[volume 3, page 10]

[edit]
CREATIONS BY CHARLES II. 1649–1685.
[edit]
FIRST PART. 30 Jan. 1648/9 to 31 Dec. 1664.

[Memorandum. The honours conferred by Charles II during the time (11 years and 4 months) that elapsed between the death of his father (30 Jan. 1648/9) and his own recognition (29 May 1660) as King, were, of course, not recognised by the Powers that then ruled the land. On and after the Restoration, 29 May 1660, these grants, however, which he began within a few months of his (theretofore unrecognised) accession to the Crown, became valid].

[volume 4, page 1]

[edit]

FOURTH PART,
VIZ., CREATIONS,
1 Jan. 1664/5(a) to 1 May 1707.

Note (a).—The date of 1 Jan. 1664/5 has been arbitrarily selected as comprising (notwithstanding the chronological disparity of the division) the approximate half of the number of Baronetcies of the three realms, created between 30 Jan. 1648/9 (the death of Charles I.), and 1 May 1707, the date of the Union with Scotland, after which last named epoch the creation of Scotch Baronetcies ceased. The previous portion (30 Jan. 1648/9 to 31 Dec. 1664) of that period is contained in vol. iii.
[edit]
CREATIONS BY CHARLES II.
1 Jan. 1664/5 to 6 Feb. 1684/5.

[See “ Memorandum ” in volume iii, part i, as to the authority from which the description of the grantees are taken between 1649 and 1809].

[volume 4, page 137]

[edit]
CREATIONS BY JAMES II.
6 Feb. 1684/5 to 11 Dec. 1688.

[volume 4, page 153]

[edit]
CREATIONS BY WILLIAM III AND MARY II.
13 Feb. 1688/9(e) to 27 Dec. 1694.

Note (e).—During the interregnum, 12 Dec. 1688 to 12 Feb. 1688/9, no creations were made.

[volume 4, page 166]

[edit]
CREATIONS BY WILLIAM III (Alone).
28 Dec. 1694 to 8 March 1701/2.

[volume 4, page 186]

[edit]
CREATIONS BY QUEEN ANNE.
8 March 1701/2 to 1 May 1707,

being the date of the Union with Scotland, when the creation of English (as well as of Scotch) Baronetcies ceased and those of Great Britain began.

Retrieved from "https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Transcript:Cokayne%2C_George_Edward._Complete_Baronetage/England"