Jump to content

Henry Capell, Baron Capell of Tewkesbury

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by GrahamHardy (talk | contribs) at 22:01, 29 October 2016 (removed Category:People from East Hertfordshire (district); added Category:People from Little Hadham using HotCat). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

1659 portrait by Peter Lely of Henry Capel

Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Tewkesbury KB, PC (1638 – 30 May 1696) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1660 and 1692. He was then created Baron Capell.

Life

Capell was born in Hadham Parva, Hertfordshire, the son of the 1st Baron Capell of Hadham and Elizabeth Morrison. He was baptised on 6 March 1638. His father, who was raised to the peerage in 1641, fought for the King in the civil wars and was beheaded in 1649 as one of the commanders of the Colchester garrison.[1] Henry's elder brother was Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex.

On 16 February 1659, Capell married Dorothy Bennet, daughter of Richard Bennet. The marriage was childless but did bring part of what later became Kew Palace into the Capell family, leading to its becoming known as Capel House. The following year Capel was elected Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury in the Convention Parliament. He was invested as a Knight of the Order of the Bath on 23 April 1661. In 1661 he was re-elected MP for Tewkesbury in the Cavalier Parliament. He was a member of the Irish Privy Council from April 1673 to March 1684/85. Capell was re-elected MP for Tewkesbury in the two elections of 1679 and was a member of the English Privy Council from 22 April 1679 to 31 January 1680, and was First Lord of the Admiralty 1679 and 1680.[1]

In 1689 Capell was elected MP for Cockermouth[1] and was Lord of the Treasury between 1689 and 1690. He was invested again as Privy Councillor on 14 February 1689. He was elected MP for Tewkesbury in 1690 and sat until 11 April 1692, when he was ennobled as Baron Capell of Tewkesbury, in the County of Gloucester.[1] One year later he became Lord Justice of Ireland and in turn a Privy Councillor of Ireland in June 1693. In 1695 and 1696, Capell was Lord Deputy of Ireland. His term as Lord Deputy is not generally considered to have been a success. He was a firm Whig, presiding over an administration which was deeply divided between Whigs and Tories, and although Capell was not to blame for these divisions he did nothing to heal them

Capell died aged 58 in Chapelizod, County Dublin, and was buried on 8 September 1696 in Hadham, Hertfordshire. The barony died with him.

References

Parliament of England
Preceded by
Not represented in Restored Rump
Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury
1660–1685
With: Richard Dowdeswell (1) 1660–1673
Sir Francis Russell, Bt 1673–1685
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Cockermouth
1689–1690
With: Henry Fletcher
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury
1690–1692
With: Richard Dowdeswell (2)
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
Prince Rupert of the Rhine
(Lord High Admiral)
First Lord of the Admiralty
1679–1681
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Lords Justices
Lord Deputy of Ireland
1695–1696
Succeeded by
Lords Justices