Robert Byerley (1660–1714), of Middridge Grange,

Heighington, County Durham Heighington ( ) is a village in the borough of Darlington and ceremonial county of County Durham, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,395. It is situated between Darlington and Shildon, near Newton Aycliffe. On ...

, and Goldsborough, Yorkshire, was an English soldier and Tory politician who sat in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

between 1685 and 1714. He is credited with capturing the

Byerley Turk The Byerley Turk (), also spelled Byerly Turk, was the earliest of three Stallion (horse), stallions that were the founders of the modern Thoroughbred horse racing bloodstock (the other two are the Godolphin Arabian and the Darley Arabian).Ahnert, ...

, a famous

stallion A stallion is an adult male horse that has not been gelded ( castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cre ...

considered one of the three major foundation sires of the

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

breed of race horse. Byerley was the fourth, but second surviving son of Anthony Byerley of Middridge Grange, Heighington, county Durham, and his wife Anne Hutton, daughter of Col Sir Richard Hutton of

Goldsborough Hall Goldsborough Hall is a Jacobean stately home located in the village of Goldsborough, North Yorkshire, England. It is a member of the Historic Houses Association. The house itself is a Grade II* listed building. The Hall was built for Sir Ri ...

. He matriculated at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

in 1677. As a soldier, Byerley was a captain of an independent troop in 1685 and a member of Queen Dowager's Horse (later the

6th Dragoon Guards The Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1685 as the Lord Lumley's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as His Majesty's 1st Regiment of Carabiniers in 1740, the 3rd Regiment of Horse (Carab ...

) from 1685 to 1687. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel in 1689 and colonel in 1689–1692. Although he was said to have fought at the Battle of Buda in 1686, there is no actual evidence that he fought abroad. There is evidence, however that he fought

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ) took place in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and James's daughter), had acceded to the Crowns of England and Sc ...

in 1690. He is famous for owning the

, one of the three founding stallions of all thoroughbred horses in the world, whose origins are still uncertain. Byerley was elected Tory Member of Parliament for

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

in 1685 and 1689. He was then returned for

Knaresborough Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish on the River Nidd in North Yorkshire, England. It is east of Harrogate and was in the Borough of Harrogate until April 2023. History The Knaresborough Hoard, the largest hoard of ...

in 1695, 1698, Feb and Dec 1701, 1702, 1705, 1708, 1710 and 1713. Byerley was resident of

, near Knaresborough in Yorkshire, which he inherited from his wife's family. He married his cousin Mary Wharton, the divorced wife of James Campbell of Burnbank, Lanarkshire and daughter and heiress of the Hon Philip Wharton, of Edlington, Yorkshire, son of Sir Thomas Wharton, on 17 March 1692. Mary was just 13 years old when she was abducted from her carriage and forced to marry Campbell. Her two-day marriage was annulled by an Act of Parliament in 1690. They had two sons and three daughters, none of whom had any children. As there were no heirs to inherit the Goldsborough estate, the Hall and lands were sold to Daniel Lascelles around 1760.

References

1660 births 1714 deaths People from Heighington, County Durham People from Knaresborough 17th-century soldiers English racehorse owners and breeders English MPs 1685–1687 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 Arabian horse breeders and trainers {{1698-England-MP-stub