John Clotworthy, 1st Viscount Massereene from NPG

John Clotworthy, 1st Viscount Massereene (died September 1665) was a prominent Anglo-Irish

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

Origins

He was the son and heir of Sir Hugh Clotworthy (died 1630),

High Sheriff of Antrim The High Sheriff of Antrim is the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Antrim. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the high sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. Besides his jud ...

(who first came to Ireland as a soldier in the Nine Years War), by his wife Mary Langford, daughter of Roger Langford of West Downe in the parish of Broadwoodwidger in Devon. A sculpted escutcheon showing the arms of Clotworthy impaling Langford of Kilmackedret was displayed on the facade of

Antrim Castle Antrim Castle or Massereene Castle was a fortified mansion in Antrim, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on the banks of the Sixmilewater River. It was built in stages between 1613 and 1662. It was destroyed by fire in 1922 and finally demolish ...

, now demolished. Sir Hugh Clotworthy was the second son of Thomas Clotworthy (born 1530) of Clotworthy in the parish of

Wembworthy Wembworthy is a small village, parish and former Manorialism, manor in Mid-Devon, England. It is situated in the valley of the River Taw, 8 miles north-east of the towns of Hatherleigh and 12 miles south of South Molton. St Michael's Church is th ...

in Devon, by his third wife Dorothy Parker, a daughter of John Parker (ancestor of the

Earl of Morley Earl of Morley, of Morley in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for John Parker, 2nd Baron Boringdon. At the same time he was created Viscount Boringdon, of North Molton in the County ...

(1815)) of

North Molton North Molton is a village, parish and former manor in North Devon, England. The population of the parish in 2001 was 1,047, decreasing to 721 in the 2011 census. An electoral ward with the same name also exists. The ward population at the cen ...

in Devon. Sir Hugh's paternal grandmother was Ivota Rashleigh, heiress of

Rashleigh Rashleigh is a surname of a prominent family from Devon and Cornwall in England, which originated in the 14th century or before at the estate of Rashleigh in the parish of Wembworthy, Devon. The principal branches were: *Rashleigh of Rashlei ...

, Devon, to which seat at some time before 1640, the senior line of the Clotworthy family eventually moved their residence from the nearby ancestral seat of Clotworthy.

Career

John was elected to the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fran ...

as member for

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population ...

1634 Events January–March * January 12– After suspecting that he will be dismissed, Albrecht von Wallenstein, supreme commander of the Holy Roman Empire's Army, demands that his colonels sign a declaration of personal loyalty. ...

, and was a member of the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septe ...

in England, in 1640, representing

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced ...

. Clotworthy was a vehement opponent of

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, (13 April 1593 ( N.S.)12 May 1641), was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1 ...

, in whose

impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

he took an active share. He also took part in the prosecution of

Archbishop Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 16 ...

. He seems to have felt a deep personal hatred for both Strafford and Laud, springing perhaps from profound religious differences. He was criticised for his conduct at Laud's execution, where he thrust himself forward and harangued that elderly man, who was trying to prepare himself for death, on his alleged religious errors. In 1646, during the

Irish Confederate Wars The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War (from ga, Cogadh na hAon-déag mBliana), took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in the kin ...

he unsuccessfully negotiated with the Royalist commander

James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, KG, PC (19 October 1610 – 21 July 1688), was a statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond from 1634 to 1642 and Marquess of Ormond from 1642 to 1661. Following the failur ...

for the surrender of

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 ...

to the Parliamentary forces. In 1647, during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...

he was accused of having betrayed the Parliamentarian cause, and also of

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

, in consequence of which charges he fled to the Continent, but returned to parliament in June 1648. On 12 December 1648, he was arrested and remained in prison (including at

Wallingford Castle Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire (historically Berkshire), adjacent to the River Thames. Established in the 11th century as a motte-and-bailey design within an Anglo-Sa ...

) for nearly three years. Having taken an active part in forwarding the

Restoration of Charles II 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 ...

, he was employed in Ireland in arranging the affairs of the soldiers and other adventurers who had settled in Ireland. Clotworthy in no way abated his old animosity against

Papist The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...

s and High Anglicans, despite the King's well-known leaning towards the Roman Catholic faith, and championed the cause of the Irish

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

s. Notwithstanding, being personally agreeable to King Charles II, his religious views were overlooked, and on 21 November 1660 he was created Baron Lough Neagh and

Viscount Massereene Viscount Massereene is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1660, along with the subsidiary title of Baron Loughneagh. From 1665 to 1816 the Skeffington Baronetcy of Fisherwick was attached to the viscountcy and from 1756 to 181 ...

in the

Irish peerage The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five di ...

, with the remainder in default of male heirs to his son-in-law, Sir John Skeffington.

Marriage and children

He married Margaret Jones, daughter of Roger Jones, 1st Viscount Ranelagh and his first wife Frances Moore, by whom he had two daughters: *Mary Clotworthy, wife of Sir John Skeffington, later 2nd Viscount Massereene. *Lettice Clotworthy, who married Edward Rowley and had issue.

Death and succession

He died without male issue and as provided for in the special remainder, his title devolved onto his son-in-law Sir John Skeffington (husband of his daughter Mary Clotworthy), who became the 2nd Viscount Massereene and whose great-grandson, the 5th Viscount Massereene, was created

Earl of Massereene Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

in 1756. The earldom became extinct on the death of the 4th Earl without male issue in 1816, the viscounty and barony of Lough Neagh descending to his daughter Harriet Skeffington, whose husband, Thomas Foster, adopted the surname of Skeffington, and in 1824 inherited from his mother the titles of

Viscount Ferrard A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

and Baron Oriel of Collon in the Irish peerage, and from his father in 1828 that of Baron Oriel of Ferrard in the peerage of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

Character

Historians, especially Strafford's biographer Veronica Wedgwood, have dealt very harshly with Clotworthy as a human being. Wedgwood called him: "a heartless, dour and repellent man who throughout his life showed a consistent inhumanity towards his fellow men". Wedgwood does however concede that, unlike others who conspired to bring Strafford down, Clotworthy was motivated less by self-interest than by genuine religious fanaticism. Laud's biographer

Hugh Trevor-Roper Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton (15 January 1914 – 26 January 2003) was an English historian. He was Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford. Trevor-Roper was a polemicist and essayist on a range of ...

also criticises him for his unpleasant behaviour at Laud's execution, where he engaged him in religious controversy while Laud was trying to prepare himself for death.Trevor-Roper p. 428

Clotworthys today

Many Clotworthys since then have emigrated to other countries around the world, many to America. There are very few known to survive in Northern Ireland.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clotworthy, John 1st Viscount Massereene Massereene Massereene, John Clotworthy, 1st Viscount Massereene Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Antrim constituencies Massereene, John Clotworthy, 1st Viscount Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall Massereene Massereene English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 Roundheads Eleven Members Members of Parliament for Maldon