George Sondes, 1st Earl of Feversham
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Sir George Sondes, 1st Earl of Feversham KB (November 1599 – 16 April 1677) was an English 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 ...
at various times between 1626 and 1676 and was then created a peer and member of the
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.


Life

Sondes was born at Lees Court, in the parish of Sheldwich, near
Faversham Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient Briti ...
in Kent, the son of Sir Richard Sondes (1571–1645) of Throwley and his wife Susan Montagu, daughter of Sir Edward Montagu of
Boughton House Boughton House is a country house in the parish of Weekley in Northamptonshire, England, situated about north-east of Kettering. It is situated within an estate of . The present house was built by Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu (d.1709), ...
. He was educated at Queens' College, Cambridge, where he entered in 1615, and where his tutor was John Preston; but he does not appear to have proceeded to a degree. He entered the
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in 1619. Sondes was created a
Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as on ...
at the coronation of
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on 2 February 1626. In 1626 he was elected Member of Parliament for
Higham Ferrers Higham Ferrers is a market town and civil parish in the Nene Valley in North Northamptonshire, England, close to the Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire borders. It forms a single built-up area with Rushden to the south and has an estimated popula ...
. He was re-elected MP for Higham Ferrers in 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. History of Parliament Online – Sondes, Sir George
/ref> He was
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for 1636-37, and
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of the St Augustine Lathe Trained Band at the time of the
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in 1639.St Augustine Lathe Trained Band at British Civil War Project.
/ref> On the outbreak of the
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, he was named a deputy lieutenant for Kent, and was on the
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committee for the county in 1643. As a result, he suffered greatly in his estate, and was imprisoned from 1645, first in
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and then in the
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. He was released from the Tower in May 1650, but not finally discharged until 25 June following, after compounding for his estate by a payment of £3,350. On his release, he began rebuilding Lees Court from the plans of Inigo Jones. Whilst both were youths, one of Sondes' sons killed another in 1655. Freeman, the youngest murdered his elder brother George whilst he was asleep in his bed. Freeman was taken to Maidstone to be tried before the Assizes. He was convicted and executed for the crime at Pennendenheath a fortnight after the crime. The body was then laid to rest in the church of
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. Sondes was blamed for moral remissness. He had failed (it was said) to continue the endowment of Throwley free school as purposed by his father, had improperly executed the will of his father-in-law, Sir Ralph Freeman, and had generally mismanaged his sons' education. Sir George answered the charges in a 'Plaine Narrative to the World, of all Passages upon the Death of his Two Sonnes' (London, 1655). At the
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in 1660, Sondes was again made deputy lieutenant of Kent. In 1661, he was elected MP for Ashburton in the
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. He sat for that constituency until 1676, when he was created Earl of Feversham, Viscount Sondes, and Baron of Throwley. Feversham died at Lees Court, without male issue, at the age of about 77. Thomas Southouse dedicated his ''Monasticon Favershamiense'' to Sondes in 1671.


Family

Feversham was twice married: first, in 1632, to Jane Freeman, daughter and heiress of Ralph Freeman of
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, Hertfordshire,
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in 1633–4 and his wife Jane Crouch, by whom he had three sons: Freeman, who died an infant, George, and a second Freeman. He married, secondly, on 25 February 1656, at St Paul's, Covent Garden, Mary Villiers, daughter of Sir William Villiers, of
Brooksby Brooksby is a deserted village and former civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts ...
. By his second wife he had two daughters: Mary, baptised in Sheldwich church on 15 March 1657 and Catherine, baptised on 20 April 1658. On 7 August 1655, the younger son, Freeman, aged eighteen or nineteen, apparently actuated by jealousy, killed his elder brother George, while he was asleep in an upper room in Lees Court, by a blow on the back of the head with a cleaver. The murderer, who at once told his father of his crime, was taken to
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 wi ...
the next day and arraigned at Maidstone assize on 9 August. He pleaded guilty, was sentenced to death, and was hanged at Maidstone on 21 August. The fratricide proved a theme for the pulpit: Robert Boreman at once issued 'A Mirrour of Mercy and Judgment, or an exact true narrative of the Life and Death of Freeman Sonds, Esq.,' 1655. There followed from other pens 'The Devils Reign upon Earth, being a Relation of several sad and bloudy Murthers lately committed, especially that of Sir George Sonds his son upon his own brother ....' London, 1655; and 'A Funeral Elegie upon the Death of George Sonds, Esq. ... by William Annand Junior of Throwllgh, whereunto is annexed a Prayer compiled by his sorrowful Father,' 1655.. Sondes was succeeded in his titles by special remainder by his son-in-law,
Louis de Duras, 2nd Earl of Feversham Louis de Duras, 2nd Earl of Feversham, KG (164119 April 1709) was a French nobleman who became Earl of Feversham in Stuart England. Born in France, he was marquis de Blanquefort and sixth son of Guy Aldonce (1605–1665), Marquis of Duras and ...
, who had married his daughter, Lady Mary Sondes, on 9 March 1676. His other daughter, Lady Catherine Sondes, married Lewis Watson on 17 July 1677. Watson became Baron Rockingham in 1689, and upon the death of the second Earl of Feversham, was created Baron Throwley, Viscount Sondes of Lees Court, and Earl of Rockingham (19 October 1714).


References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Feversham, George Sondes, 1st Earl of 1599 births 1677 deaths Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple Deputy Lieutenants of Kent Knights of the Bath High Sheriffs of Kent Kent Militia officers English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1661–1679 Prisoners in the Tower of London 1 Peers of England created by Charles II Members of the Parliament of England for Ashburton People from the Borough of Swale