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Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet ( – 1684) was a statesman, soldier, diplomat and spymaster and preacher, whose allegiances changed significantly during his career, giving his support to
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...
and (later, after the Restoration) Charles II. As Teller of the Exchequer, he is credited with instituting major reforms in public finance. His influence on the passage and substance of the mercantilist
Navigation Acts The Navigation Acts, or more broadly the Acts of Trade and Navigation, were a long series of English laws that developed, promoted, and regulated English ships, shipping, trade, and commerce between other countries and with its own colonies. The ...
was substantial. The Acts protected English maritime commerce from competition, especially competition from the Netherlands, and led to the increase in the size of the English merchant fleet and of the Royal Navy that protected it. They are credited with contributing to the security of the English state and its ability to project its power abroad, but may have stunted potential developments in shipbuilding and operation by stifling competition.
Downing Street Downing Street is a street in Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Situated off Whitehall, it is long, and a few minutes' walk f ...
in London is named after him. More than any other man he was responsible for arranging the acquisition of New York from the Dutch; two New York streets, one in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village a ...
and one in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, beh ...
, are named for him.


Early life

He was the son of Emmanuel Downing, a
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law a ...
of the
Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wa ...
in London, himself the son of an Ipswich schoolmaster. Emmanuel was a
Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
who undertook missionary work, first in Ireland, and then (at the invitation of
Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
Governor
John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1587/88 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop l ...
) in New England. His mother, Lucy Winthrop, was the younger sister of Governor Winthrop and she married Emmanuel in April 1622. There is some doubt about Downing's birthplace and the year of his birth. These are stated to be either circa 1624 in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
during his father's mission there, or in 1625, in London During his later life, he was frequently insulted because of his obscure origins and supposedly dubious New England education. In 1636, he was in school in
Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it w ...
,
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it fac ...
. His family joined Winthrop in America in 1638, settling in
Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports t ...
. Downing attended
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
and was one of nine students in the first graduating class of 1642, Ranked 2nd out of 9 Students. He was hired by Harvard as the college's first tutor. In 1645, he sailed for the
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Grea ...
on a ship that also carried slaves, as a preacher and instructor of the seamen, and arrived in England some time afterwards, becoming chaplain to Colonel
John Okey Colonel John Okey (24 August 1606 – 19 April 1662) was a political and religious radical who served in the Parliamentarian army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A regicide who approved the Execution of Charles I in 1649, he escaped to ...
's regiment (who had sponsored Downing's education in America).


Service under Cromwell

Between 1647 and 1651, Downing pursued a military career, having abandoned preaching, and took part in the battles of
Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an eccl ...
in 1650 and Worcester in 1651. In this period, he was a strong upholder of the republican cause and supported the
execution of Charles I The execution of Charles I by beheading occurred on Tuesday, 30 January 1649 outside the Banqueting House on Whitehall. The execution was the culmination of political and military conflicts between the royalists and the parliamentarians in En ...
. He was appointed scoutmaster-general of Cromwell's forces in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
in November 1649, and as such received in 1657 an annual salary of £365 and, from 1656, he received £500 as a Teller of the Exchequer.Scott, Jonathan (2003) '' 'Good Night Amsterdam'. Sir George Downing and Anglo-Dutch Statebuilding''. The English Historical Review, Vol. 118, No. 476 p.343 In 1654, he married Frances, sister of
Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle (162824 February 1685) was an English military leader and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1653 and 1660 and was created Earl of Carlisle in 1661. Howard was the son and he ...
and daughter of Sir William Howard of
Naworth Castle Naworth Castle, also known or recorded in historical documents as "Naward", is a castle in Cumbria, England, near the town of Brampton. It is adjacent to the A69, about east of Brampton. It is on the opposite side of the River Irthing to, and ...
and Mary (''née'' Eure, daughter of William Eure, 4th Baron Eure). Frances was the great-great-granddaughter of the fourth Duke of Norfolk. Downing's marriage to the powerful Howard family aided his advancement. Over the south door of
St Denis Church, East Hatley St Denis' Church, East Hatley is a deconsecrated church in East Hatley in Cambridgeshire, England. It is a listed building, Grade 2*, and the building and its churchyard (which is still consecrated) are a 200 square metre Local Nature Reserve. ...
in Cambridgeshire, are the Downing arms
impaling Impalement, as a method of torture and execution, is the penetration of a human by an object such as a stake, pole, spear, or hook, often by the complete or partial perforation of the torso. It was particularly used in response to "crimes ag ...
those of the Earl of Carlisle, above the date 1633. In Cromwell's parliament of 1654, Downing represented
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore o ...
, and he represented
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the Cit ...
in those of 1656 and 1659. His first diplomatic appointments were to France in 1655 to remonstrate on the massacre of the Protestant Vaudois and as envoy to the
Duke of Savoy The titles of count, then of duke of Savoy are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the county was held by the House of Savoy. The County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy at the ...
in 1656. In December 1657, he was appointed resident at
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital ...
. Although in his earlier years, Downing was strongly anti-monarchical, he was one of the first to urge Cromwell to take the royal title and restore the old constitution. As scoutmaster-general, Downing had been in charge of gathering intelligence and managing a network of spies. During this residency in the Netherlands, Downing considered that gaining intelligence, both about Dutch intentions and any plots by exiled royalists, was a major part of his function, and he employed similar tactics later against regicides and other republicans there. Cromwell's aims were to effect a union of the Protestant European powers, to mediate between
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the ...
and 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 ...
and between
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
and
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
, but also to defend the interests of the English traders against competing Dutch merchants. Political union between the two nations had already been rejected by the Dutch in 1654, as was a proposal for a military alliance against Spain in return for a promise to exempt the Netherlands from the provisions of the Navigation Act, but Cromwell persisted. Although Downing was unable to realise Cromwell's plans during his first period in the Netherlands, he gained insight into the Dutch Republic's system of public finance, which he first applied to the royal finances the early Restoration period of 1660 to 1665, allowing them to be reformed in imitation of Dutch practice.


Restoration

Downing showed himself to have been an able diplomat for the Protectorate, and was maintained in his post during the interregnum subsequent to the fall of
Richard Cromwell Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who was the second and last Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and son of the first Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. On his father's death ...
. He was thus enabled in April 1660 to make his peace with Charles II, to whom he made himself useful by communicating Thurloe's despatches, and declared his abandonment of "principles sucked in" in New England of which he now "saw the error". At the
Stuart Restoration The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came t ...
, therefore, Downing was knighted (May 1660), was reappointed to the embassy at the Hague, was confirmed in his tellership of the exchequer, and was further rewarded with a valuable piece of land adjoining
St James's Park St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous ch ...
for building purposes, now known as
Downing Street Downing Street is a street in Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Situated off Whitehall, it is long, and a few minutes' walk f ...
. During the Restoration period, Downing was instrumental in organising the spy rings which hunted down many of his former comrades. He engineered the arrest in Holland of the regicides John Barkstead,
Miles Corbet Miles Corbet (1595–1662) was an English politician, recorder of Yarmouth and Regicide. Life He was the son of Sir Thomas Corbet of Sprowston, Norfolk and the younger brother of Sir John Corbet, 1st Baronet, MP for Great Yarmouth from 1 ...
and his former commander and sponsor
John Okey Colonel John Okey (24 August 1606 – 19 April 1662) was a political and religious radical who served in the Parliamentarian army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A regicide who approved the Execution of Charles I in 1649, he escaped to ...
, and their removal to England against considerable Dutch popular opposition, where they were tried and executed.
Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mari ...
, who characterised his conduct as odious though useful to the king, calls him a "perfidious rogue" and remarks that "all the world took notice of him for a most ungrateful villain for his pains."


Embassy at The Hague

Downing arrived in the Hague as ambassador in May 1661, where he had to deal with
Johan de Witt Johan de Witt (; 24 September 1625 – 20 August 1672), ''lord of Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp en IJsselvere'', was a Dutch statesman and a major political figure in the Dutch Republic in the mid-17th century, the F ...
, the Grand Pensionary of Holland, who controlled the foreign policy of the Netherlands. De Witt realised that his country could never win a war with England or France conclusively, and therefore worked for European neutrality in which Dutch commerce could flourish. In the aftermath of the Restoration, de Witt hoped that Charles II would be amenable to the negotiation of a defensive triple alliance between the Netherlands, England and France that would cover trade, maritime issues and defence. However, trade disputes and enactment of the English Navigation Act of 1660 made agreement difficult, although Charles wished for at least a treaty of friendship Downing had from the first been a champion of English
mercantilism Mercantilism is an economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports for an economy. It promotes imperialism, colonialism, tariffs and subsidies on traded goods to achieve that goal. The policy aims to reduce a ...
, and was therefore hostile to the Dutch as the commercial rivals of England. He had emphasised the importance of Baltic markets for English merchants to Thurloe during his first embassy, which had given him an insight into the economic policies of the Dutch government, and his intelligence network then had allowed him to discover how its traders were able to evade the Navigation Act of 1651. This knowledge enabled Downing to be instrumental in strengthening and clarifying the provisions of the earlier act in the Navigation Act of 1660. Despite Dutch opposition to this legislation, they were willing to continue discussions, but were frustrated by English demands for them to honour certain provisions of the 1654 treaty that ended the
First Anglo-Dutch War The First Anglo-Dutch War, or simply the First Dutch War, ( nl, Eerste Engelse (zee-)oorlog, "First English (Sea) War"; 1652–1654) was a conflict fought entirely at sea between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Province ...
which the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
representatives in Asia had ignored and for compensation for English merchants' outstanding claims. The talks continued until early 1662, when Charles' improving financial position and Downing's advice not to offer concessions led to further English demands. The conclusion of a Franco-Dutch treaty including a defensive alliance in 1662, which gave the Netherlands protection against an English attack, ended the possibility of an Anglo-Dutch treaty that would settle outstanding differences, and the treaty signed in September 1662 satisfied neither government. The existing commercial tensions between England and the Netherlands escalated between 1662 and 1664, involving English provocations in North America and West Africa. Although negotiations to avoid the outbreak of war took place throughout much of 1664, both sides refused to compromise what they considered were their vital interest. In 1664, Lord Arlington, gained royal favour and he and his client, Sir Thomas Clifford M.P., later Lord Clifford, began to cooperate with the king's brother
James, Duke of York James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious ...
. They coordinated their efforts to reduce Dutch competition through a policy of reprisals against Dutch ships, and expected significant personal gain from this policy. Downing supported this aggressive policy: although he has been accused of being the principal cause of the deterioration of Anglo-Dutch relations, he did not initiate policies, but acted on instructions from Arlington and Clifford. In turn, Charles II, without explicitly endorsing war with the Netherlands, used Clifford and Downing to further his plans to gain advantages from the Dutch even if this policy risked war.Rommelse, Gijs (2006). ''The Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-1667)''. Hilversum Verloren, p.103 Downing also consistently reported to London in 1664 and 1665 that the Dutch Republic was politically divided and would submit to English demands rather than go to war. Even after the English fleet began seizing Dutch ships and an attack on Dutch possessions in West Africa, he had reported in August 1664 that the Dutch would probably accept reducing their share of overseas trade in favour of England, although contemporary Dutch sources reported strengthening Dutch resistance to these provocations. Downing had been in contact with the Orangists since 1661 and believed they would collaborate with England against their republican enemies. He used Henri de Fleury de Coulan de Buat in an attempt to procure an Orangist coup in an attempt to end the war and overthrow de Witt, but de Buat's treasonable correspondence with England was discovered, leading to his rapid arrest, trial and execution. During the summer of 1664,
Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ve ...
attempted to avert the threatened Anglo-Dutch war or, failing that, to confine it to Africa and America. These efforts to mediate an agreement failed, and the war commenced with a declaration of war by the Dutch on 4 March 1665, following English attacks on two Dutch convoys off Cadiz and in the English Channel. After the declaration of war, both Downing and the Dutch ambassador in London remained at their posts until Downing was expelled later in 1665 for organising espionage. Downing combined the roles of parliamentarian and diplomat, so was close to the centres of English decision-making. He represented a king who was financially weak and not in full control of his parliaments against a wealthy Dutch state in which de Witt had considerable control over finance and foreign affairs, even if this ultimately required the consent of a majority of the Dutch provinces. His main failing in following the agenda of Arlington and Duke of York is that he did not realise until too late that there were limits to the concessions that the Dutch were prepared to make, and that at some point English provocations would lead to war, not to the desired concessions. He also underestimated the Dutch willingness to accept the heavy financial burden of a war to protect their trade. De Witt also failed to realise the strength of English feeling against the Netherlands, although neither he nor Downing can be wholly blamed for not preventing the outbreak of the
Second Anglo-Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667; nl, Tweede Engelse Oorlog "Second English War") was a conflict between England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas and trade routes, wh ...
, when its roots lay in the unsatisfactory conclusion to the
First Anglo-Dutch War The First Anglo-Dutch War, or simply the First Dutch War, ( nl, Eerste Engelse (zee-)oorlog, "First English (Sea) War"; 1652–1654) was a conflict fought entirely at sea between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Province ...
in 1654.


Capture of New York

The
Treaty of Hartford (1650) The Treaty of Hartford is a treaty concluded between New Netherland and Connecticut on September 19, 1650, in Hartford, Connecticut. Background In 1650, Dutch Director-General of New Netherland Petrus Stuyvesant went to Hartford to negotiat ...
, which was supposed to define the boundary between the Dutch colony of
New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva ...
and the English one of
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, had been made between the governors of these two colonies and, while accepted by each colony's administration and the
Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ...
as reflecting the reality of expanding English settlement, it was not ratified by the English government, which disputed Dutch claims to the western half of
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...
and to the territory east of the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between New ...
. During the
First Anglo-Dutch War The First Anglo-Dutch War, or simply the First Dutch War, ( nl, Eerste Engelse (zee-)oorlog, "First English (Sea) War"; 1652–1654) was a conflict fought entirely at sea between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Province ...
, a force of New England colonial militia was assembled to attack the New Netherland settlements, but the war ended before it began its campaign. During the remainder of the Protectorate and in the first years of the Restoration, the status quo of the Hartford Treaty remained in force, although the presence of the New Netherland colony allowed settlers in the English colonies to sell their produce to Dutch traders in defiance of legal restrictions. During the period from 1657 to 1664, Downing, with his New England background and residency in The Hague, was ideally placed to advise Charles II on the political situation in North America and the Dutch Republic. Charles and his
Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...
, the Earl of Clarendon, faced with the Dutch delays in implementing the terms of the 1654 peace, widespread smuggling operations based on
New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave ri ...
and the exclusion of English traders from the East Indies and West Africa, decided to assert English claims to New Netherland, and to use Downing as their agent to claim to de Witt that Charles was merely asserting his rights, not making a declaration of war. Downing was one of the individuals said to be well acquainted with the affairs of New England that advised the Council for Foreign Plantations in January 1664 to attack New Amsterdam in support of the claim of Connecticut to land to the west of the 1650 boundary, and he supported the dispatch of a naval and military force to support the local militias to capture that town.


Parliamentary career

Downing was returned for Morpeth in the Convention Parliament of April 1660, a constituency that he represented in every ensuing parliament till his death, and he spoke with ability on financial and commercial questions. In 1665, after his expulsion from the Netherlands and as a member of parliament, Downing attached a clause to a bill to fund the war's continuation that specified that the money could only be used for the war effort. This previously little-used move, opposed strongly by Lord Clarendon as an encroachment on the royal prerogative, effectively made permanent the parliamentary appropriation of supplies (meaning that Parliament gained the right to specify that tax revenues should be used only for a particular purpose, rather than spent as the King's government saw fit). In May 1667, in the war's final year, Downing was made secretary to the commissioners of the
treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in ...
, his appointment being much welcomed by Pepys, and he took part in the management and reform of the Treasury. He was appointed a commissioner of the customs in 1671. The same year he was again sent to Holland to replace
Sir William Temple Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet (25 April 162827 January 1699) was an English diplomat, statesman and essayist. An important diplomat, he was recalled in 1679, and for a brief period was a leading advisor to Charles II, with whom he then fell ...
, to break up the policy of the Triple Alliance and incite another war between the Dutch Republic and England in furtherance of the French policy. His unpopularity there was extreme, and after three months' residence, Downing fled to England, in fear of the fury of the mob. For this unauthorised step, he was sent to the
Tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...
on 7 February 1672, but released some few weeks afterwards. He defended the
Royal Declaration of Indulgence The Royal Declaration of Indulgence was Charles II of England's attempt to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics in his realms, by suspending the execution of the Penal Laws that punished recusants from th ...
the same year, and made himself useful in supporting the court policy.


Character

Downing had political, diplomatic, and financial ability, but his character has often been maligned by his enemies because of his willingness to make the most of changing political circumstances, and to betray former comrades in order to win favour from his current masters. Today his reputation is undergoing a revision among scholars of the period as his contributions as a financial reformer and diplomat are again recognised. Many of his contemporaries accused him of meanness, and his miserliness is recorded in some detail by
Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mari ...
, although Downing's rapid rise from obscure poverty to riches was considered undesirable in a generally conservative society, and it generated suspicion, envy accusations of a range of vices. He published a large number of declarations and discourses, mostly in Dutch, enumerated in Sibley's biography, and wrote also "A True Relation of the Progress of the Parliament's Forces in Scotland" (1651),
Thomason Tracts The Thomason Collection of Civil War Tracts consists of more than 22,000 pamphlets, broadsides, manuscripts, books, and news sheets, most of which were printed and distributed in London from 1640 to 1661. The collection represents a major primary s ...
, Brit. Mus., E 640 (5).


Death and family

His wife, Frances, died on 10 July 1683, and he died in Cambridge just over a year later, around 19 July 1684, when his will was proved, after having acquired a substantial fortune, and was considered to be the largest landowner in
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
(critics claimed he amassed the fortune partly through his exceptional meanness about money). He was succeeded in the title by his eldest son Sir George Downing, 2nd Baronet. He had two younger sons, William and Charles, and four daughters: * Sir George Downing, 2nd Baronet ( – 15 April 1740), who succeeded to the baronetcy; married Lady Catharine Cecil (died 1688), daughter of the third Earl of Salisbury, with whom he had one son: **
Sir George Downing, 3rd Baronet Sir George Downing, 3rd Baronet (baptised 24 October 1685 – 10 June 1749) was a British landowner and inititially Tory, but later Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1710 and 1749. Through a donation in his will, he was t ...
(–1749); died without issue *William Downing (1663–1704) *Charles Downing (died 15 April 1740); Comptroller of Customs in Salem; married Sarah Garrard, daughter and coheir of Jacob Garrad, son and heir of Sir Thomas Garrad, 2nd Baronet of Langford, with whom he had two children: **Sarah (died young, 1706) ** Sir Jacob Garrard Downing, 4th Baronet (1717–1764), MP for
Dunwich Dunwich is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon period, Dunwich w ...
, who inherited the baronetcy from his cousin in 1749 but who died without a male heir, leaving it extinct *Frances (died 1681); married John Cotton, heir of Sir John Cotton, 3rd Baronet; her husband died before his father, leaving the title to their son Sir John Cotton, 4th Baronet; *Philadelphia (died 8 March 1676), married Sir Henry Pickering, 2nd Baronet 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 ...
and had three daughters. *Mary (died 1728), married Thomas Barnardiston; mother of Thomas Barnardiston, whose law reports became a legend for their inaccuracy; *Lucy (died 1711), who married firstly the Irish statesman Sir Richard Bulkeley, 2nd Baronet, and secondly the Irish judge William Worth, but had no surviving issue by either marriage. He was buried in the family vault he had had built in All Saints' Church in the village of
Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensiv ...
in Cambridgeshire. While Downing Street, London, is named after him,
Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...
, derives its name from his grandson,
Sir George Downing, 3rd Baronet Sir George Downing, 3rd Baronet (baptised 24 October 1685 – 10 June 1749) was a British landowner and inititially Tory, but later Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1710 and 1749. Through a donation in his will, he was t ...
. The title became extinct when the 3rd Baronet's cousin,
Sir Jacob Downing, 4th Baronet Sir Jacob Garrard Downing, 4th Baronet ( – 6 February 1764) was an English baronet and politician. He was the grandson of Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet, namesake of Downing Street; and cousin and heir of Sir George Downing, 3rd Baronet, wh ...
, died in 1764.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Downing, George, 1st Baronet 1620s births Date of birth unknown 1684 deaths 17th-century soldiers Baronets in the Baronetage of England English diplomats 17th-century diplomats Ambassadors of England to the Netherlands Harvard College alumni People from Cambridge Prisoners in the Tower of London English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers Burgh Commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland People from South Cambridgeshire District