Gilbert Talbot (courtier)

Sir Gilbert Talbot, FRS (c.1606–1695) was an English courtier and MP.

He was born a younger son of Sherington Talbot of Rudge, Pattingham, Shropshire and Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire. He studied at Christ Church, Oxford, where he was awarded BA in 1626 and Lincoln College, Oxford, where he gained an MA in 1628. He was a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford from 1629 to ?1634.

He then served 11 years as Secretary (1634–37), Resident (1637–44) and lastly Envoy (1645) at the British Embassy in Venice and was knighted in 1645. A Royalist, he served time in Gloucester gaol during the Civil War for his views. On his release he went abroad to join the exiled royal court and was made a Gentleman Usher of the Privy Chamber. At the Restoration in 1660 he was appointed Master of the Jewel House, holding the position for the next 30 years. In 1663 he was elected an Original Fellow of the Royal Society.

In 1664 he resumed his diplomatic career as Envoy Extraordinary to Denmark during the Second Dutch War and on his return was elected unapposed as the Member of Parliament for Plymouth in 1666, sitting until 1678. A Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant in 1688, serving only until 1689.

In his latter years he moved from his Worcestershire home to live with his nephew Sir John Talbot in Lacock Abbey, where he died in 1695. He was buried in Salwarpe, Worcestershire. He had never married.

References

• "TALBOT, Sir Gilbert (c.1606-95), of Whitehall and Lacock Abbey, Wilts". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 1 October 2014.