Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester (7 November 1642) was an English judge, politician and peer.

Life

He was the 3rd son of

Edward Montagu of Boughton Sir Edward Montagu (c. 1530 – 26 January 1602) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1559. Career Montagu was the eldest surviving son of Sir Edward Montagu of Boughton House, near Kettering and his third ...

and grandson of Sir Edward Montagu,

Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

of the King's Bench from 1539 to 1545, who was named by

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

one of the executors of his will, and governor to his son,

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

. Henry was born at

Boughton, Northamptonshire Boughton is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. It is situated approximately from Northampton town centre along the A508 road between Northampton and Market Harborough. The parish area straddles both sides of the r ...

, about 1563. He was educated at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

, was admitted to

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's I ...

on 6 November 1585 and was

Called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

on 9 June 1592. He was elected

recorder of London The Recorder of London is an ancient legal office in the City of London. The Recorder of London is the senior circuit judge at the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey), hearing trials of criminal offences. The Recorder is appointed by the Cr ...

in 1603, and in 1616 was made

Chief Justice of the King's Bench Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the bo ...

, in which office it fell to him to pass sentence on Sir

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebelli ...

in October 1618. In 1620, he was appointed

Lord High Treasurer The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State ...

, being raised to the peerage as Viscount Mandeville and Baron Montagu of Kimbolton,

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cr ...

shire. He became President of the Council in 1621, in which office he was continued by

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, who created him Earl of Manchester in 1626. In 1628, he became

Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. Originally, ...

, and in 1635 a commissioner of the treasury. Although from the beginning of his public life in 1601, when he first entered Parliament, Manchester had inclined to the popular side in politics, he managed to retain to the end the favour of the King. He was a judge of the

Star Chamber The Star Chamber (Latin: ''Camera stellata'') was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (c. 1641), and was composed of Privy Counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the ju ...

, and one of the most trusted councillors of Charles I. His loyalty, ability, and honesty were warmly praised by Clarendon. In conjunction with

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

, the Lord Keeper, he pronounced an opinion in favour of the legality of

ship money Ship money was a tax of medieval origin levied intermittently in the Kingdom of England until the middle of the 17th century. Assessed typically on the inhabitants of coastal areas of England, it was one of several taxes that English monarchs co ...

in 1634.

Family

Manchester was married three times: first, Catherine Spencer, daughter of Sir William Spencer of Yarnton, Oxfordshire; second, Anne Holliday (née Wincot), in 1613, daughter of William Wincot of Langham, Suffolk, and widow of Sir

Leonard Holliday :''Note: dates are given using the New Style calendar.'' Sir Leonard Holliday (also spelled Hollyday and Halliday) (c. 1550 – 9 January 1612) was a founder of the East India Company, and a Lord Mayor of London. Life He was born, perhaps ci ...

, third, Margaret Crouch, on 26 April 1620, daughter of John Crouch of Cornbury, Hertfordshire, who died in 1653. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward Montagu, Viscount Mandeville, from his first marriage. The second son of Henry and Catherine was

Walter Montagu Walter Montagu (c. 1603–1677) was an English courtier, secret agent (a.k.a. David Cutler) and Benedictine abbot. Life He was the second son of Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester, by his first wife Catherine Spencer. He was born in the par ...

, the courtier and abbot. One of his sons by his third wife, Margaret Crouch, was George Montagu, father of Charles Montagu, created Earl of Halifax in 1699, and James Montagu,

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

from 1708 to 1710.

Notes

External links

Record for ''Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester'' on ''thepeerage''UK Parliamentary Archives, Papers of the Earls of Manchester
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Manchester, Henry Montagu, 1st Earl Of 1560s births 1642 deaths Lord High Treasurers Lord-Lieutenants of Huntingdonshire Lord chief justices of England and Wales

Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester (7 November 1642) was an English judge, politician and peer. Life He was the 3rd son of Edward Montagu of Boughton and grandson of Sir Edward Montagu, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1539 to ...

People from West Northamptonshire District Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge English MPs 1593 English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1614 Members of the Parliament of England for the City of London 16th-century English judges 16th-century English lawyers Recorders of London Earls of Manchester