Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle (14 August 1653 – 6 October 1688) was an English soldier and politician who sat in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
from 1667 to 1670 when he inherited the Dukedom and sat in the House of Lords.
Origins
Monck was the son and heir of
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (1608–1670) by his wife Anne Clarges (d.1700), a daughter of John Clarges, "Farrier in the
Savoy", of
Drury Lane, Westminster. Anne's brother was Sir
Thomas Clarges (c. 1618–1695),
MP, who greatly assisted his brother-in-law, then before his elevation to the dukedom, General George Monck, in bringing about the
Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660. She was the presumed widow of Thomas Radford, milliner, of New Exchange, Strand, Westminster, although it was said that her husband was still alive when her son was born. This left a question concerning Monck's legitimacy.
Youth
Monck was educated privately and entered
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...
in 1662.
[History of Parliament Online – Monck, Christopher]
/ref> From 1660 until his father's death ten years later in 1670, he was known by the courtesy title of Earl of Torrington, one of his father's subsidiary titles.
Career
At the age of 13, Monck entered politics, having been elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
in January 1667. In 1670 he was elevated to the peerage and thus entered the House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
, following the death of his father, and thereby also inherited his father's peerage titles. He became a Gentleman of the Bedchamber and inherited his father's great feudal title, Lord of Bowland. He was created a Knight of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...
, a Privy Councillor and in 1675 Lord Lieutenant of Devon
The Office of the Lord Lieutenant was created during the reign of Henry VIII (1509–1547), taking over the military duties of the Sheriffs and control of the military forces of the Crown. From 1569 there was provision for the appointment of Depu ...
, in which latter role he served for ten years. He became a titular colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
of several horse regiments of the English Army.[
In 1673 he raised a regiment as part of the Blackheath Army under Marshal Schomberg. It was intended for service in the ]Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
, but was disbanded following the Treaty of Westminster before seeing any action.
From 1682 until his death, Monck was Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. In 1685 he resigned the Lord Lieutenancy of Devon to fight against the Monmouth Rebellion, but was largely unsuccessful as a military leader. In 1686, Monck was a major investor in a treasure-seeking expedition headed by William Phips
Sir William Phips (or Phipps; February 2, 1651 – February 18, 1695) was born in Maine in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was of humble origin, uneducated, and fatherless from a young age but rapidly advanced from shepherd boy, to shipwright, s ...
, who had located the wreck of the Spanish treasure ship '' Nuestra Señora de la Concepción'' in February 1687. Phips returned to London with more than £200,000 worth of treasure, of which Monck received a 25 percent share. After serving in a few more minor positions, in 1687, Monck was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica.
Boxing pioneer
On 6 January 1681, Monck arranged a boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
match between his butler and his butcher. This was the first recorded boxing match in England. The butcher won the match.
Residences
Potheridge, Devon
His Devonshire seat was Potheridge, 3 miles south-east of Great Torrington
Great Torrington (often abbreviated to Torrington, though the villages of Little Torrington and Black Torrington are situated in the same region) is a market town in Devon, England. Parts of it are sited on high ground with steep drops down to ...
, a grand mansion re-built by his father ''circa'' 1660 on the site of the former manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
occupied by his family since at the latest 1287. It was mostly demolished after the death of the 2nd duchess in 1734 and the surviving section forms the present Great Potheridge farmhouse, inside which however some remnants of the former mansion remain, including two massive 17th-century classical-style doorcases, a colossal overmantel
The fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a fire grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and ca ...
with carved putti and trophies, and a grand staircase.
Clarendon House, London
In 1675 Monck purchased for £26,000 the very grand London townhouse
A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...
Clarendon House
Clarendon House was a town mansion which stood on Piccadilly in London, England, from the 1660s to the 1680s. It was built for the powerful politician Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, and was the grandest private London residence of its ...
from the heirs of its builder, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (18 February 16099 December 1674), was an English statesman, lawyer, diplomat and historian who served as chief advisor to Charles I during the First English Civil War, and Lord Chancellor to Charles II fro ...
(1609–1674). In 1683 he resold it to a consortium of investors led by Sir Thomas Bond
Sir Thomas Bond, 1st Baronet (–1685) was an English landowner and Comptroller of the household of Queen Henrietta Maria.
Biography
The son of Dr. Thomas Bond (1580–1662), by his marriage to Catherine, daughter of John Osbaldeston, Bond was ...
, who demolished it and built on its site Albemarle Street
Albemarle Street is a street in Mayfair in central London, off Piccadilly. It has historic associations with Lord Byron, whose publisher John Murray was based here, and Oscar Wilde, a member of the Albemarle Club, where an insult he recei ...
, Bond Street and Dover Street.
Marriage and succession
At the royal Palace of Whitehall in London on 30 December 1669, shortly before his father's death, Monck married Lady Elizabeth Cavendish
Lady Elizabeth Georgiana Alice Cavendish (24 April 1926 – 15 September 2018) was a British noblewoman who was a childhood friend of Queen Elizabeth II and a lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret from the late 1940s until the latter's death in 2 ...
(d.1734), eldest daughter and co-heiress of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle
Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, KG, PC (24 June 1630 – 26 July 1691), styled Lord Cavendish until 1676, and Viscount Mansfield from 1676, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1676, and then ...
. She gave birth to a son who died soon after his birth, and Monck left no further surviving children. In 1692 his widow remarried to Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu
Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu (24 December 1638 – 9 March 1709) was an English courtier and diplomat.
Background
Ralph Montagu was the second son of Edward Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu of Boughton (1616–1684), and Anne Winwood, daught ...
(1638 – c. 1709). She was buried in Westminster Abbey on 11 September 1734.
Death and succession
Monck died in Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
[ on 6 October 1688, age 35. He was buried in ]Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
on 4 July 1689.[Vivian, p.570] As the Duke left no children, all his titles became extinct on his death.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albemarle, Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of
1653 births
1688 deaths
Governors of Jamaica
British colonial heads of the Bahamas
British Life Guards officers
Chancellors of the University of Cambridge
Dukes of Albemarle
Knights of the Garter
Lord-Lieutenants of Devon
Lord-Lieutenants of Essex
English MPs 1661–1679
Members of the Privy Council of England
Members of Gray's Inn
Monmouth Rebellion
17th-century Jamaican people
Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Devon
History of boxing