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Robert Fielding (or ''Feilding''; also nicknamed Beau Fielding; 1650/51 – 12 May 1712) was an English
bigamist In a culture where only monogamous relationships are legally recognized, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their mari ...
and
rake Rake may refer to: Common meanings * Rake (tool), a horticultural implement, a long-handled tool with tines * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (poker), the commission taken by the house when hosting a poker game ...
in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He was known as a handsome womanizer at the royal court of King Charles II, where he was given the nicknames "Beau" and "Handsome" Fielding, and later became the bigamous husband of the King's former mistress,
Barbara Villiers Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Countess of Castlemaine ( ; – 9 October 1709), was an English royal mistress of the Villiers family and perhaps the most notorious of the many mistresses of King Charles II of England, by whom she ...
, the first Duchess of Cleveland.


Early life

Fielding was born in
Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...
,
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
, to George Fielding, a kinsman of the
Earl of Denbigh Earl of Denbigh (pronounced 'Denby') is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1622 for William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh, William Feilding, Viscount Feilding, a courtier, admiral, and brother-in-law of the powerful George Vill ...
. There is no record of his mother. A minor reference to his early life and character is found in
Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...
's ''Miscellaneous and autobiographical pieces, fragments and marginalia'', which reports that Fielding married Mary, only daughter and heiress of Barnham Swift, 1st Viscount Carlingford and Lady Mary Crichton. Swift recalls that she "brought him a considerable estatte in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, which he squandered away, but had no children". His second wife was the twice-widowed Lady Margaret Burke, only daughter of Ulick Burke, the first Marquess of Clanricarde and Lady Anne Compton.


Member of Parliament

Following the death of Charles II in 1685, Fielding became a loyal supporter of
King James II James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685, until he was deposed in the 1688 Glori ...
and the Roman Catholic cause. James gave him a regiment of the
Royal Irish Army Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, ...
, and while in Ireland, Fielding became an MP for
Gowran Gowran (; ) is a town on the eastern side of County Kilkenny, Ireland. The historic St. Mary's Collegiate Church is in the centre of Gowran, close to Gowran Castle. Gowran Park race course and Golf Course are one kilometre from the centre of ...
,
County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...
in the 1689
Patriot Parliament Patriot Parliament is the name commonly used for the Irish Parliament session called by King James II during the Williamite War in Ireland which lasted from 1688 to 1691. The first since 1666, it held only one session, which lasted from 7 May ...
in Dublin. With his regiment, he is said to have put down a
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
riot. After the
Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...
and James' forced
abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the Order of succession, succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of ...
, Fielding travelled to Paris with the exiled king, before returning to England, where he was imprisoned in
Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey, just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, the pr ...
as a Jacobite in 1696. After securing a pardon the following year, he led an ostentatious lifestyle, leading a life filled with gambling, wealthy mistresses and
duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...
s. At the age of 50, Fielding was involved in a duel with a barrister named Fulwood, who drew first and injured his opponent. While Fulwood left triumphantly for
Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is located in Holborn and is the List of city squares by size, largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a ...
in London, Fielding showed his injuries to the public, hoping to arouse some compassion. Instead, as Swift recorded: " was run into his breast, which he opened, and shewed to the ladies, that he might move their love and pity; but they all fell a-laughing".


Scandal

Following the death of his wife Margaret on 14 August 1698, Fielding courted Barbara, Duchess of Cleveland, former mistress of Charles II. At the same time, he pursued Anne Deleau, an heiress with a fortune of £60,000, which Fielding discovered by studying her late husband's will. Love letters sent to her house in Waddon, Surrey were hidden by the servants, who suspected Fielding's motives for proposing, due to his bad reputation. However, his pursuit continued, and he bribed Deleau's hairdresser, Charlotte Villars, with £500 to arrange the marriage. Mrs. Villars, however, knowing that Deleau would most likely refuse, disguised one of her own friends, a poor woman named Mary Wadsworth, as the widow. Believing her to be Deleau, Fielding married Wadsworth on 9 November 1705. Fielding's pursuit of the Duchess of Cleveland also continued, and he entered into a bigamous union with her on 25 November 1705. News of the double marriage emerged in May 1706, when Fielding discovered that he had married Wadsworth rather than Deleau. He arrived at Waddon, beat Wadsworth, and warned Deleau's hairdresser Charlotte Villars, who had arranged the deception, not to reveal the marriage. In the meantime, the relations between the Duchess of Cleveland and her husband were increasingly unhappy. After she stopped indulging his expenses, he "so barbarously ill-treated her, that she was obliged to have recourse to a magistrate for protection against his outrages". He also conducted a sexual relationship with the Duchess' granddaughter, Charlotte Calvert, in the Spring of 1706, and was rumoured to have fathered a child by her, born on 23 April 1707. The case went to the
Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
, where Fielding was prosecuted and found guilty of bigamy at his trial on 4 December 1706. The marriage between Fielding and the Duchess was annulled, but he claimed
benefit of clergy In English law, the benefit of clergy ( Law Latin: ''privilegium clericale'') was originally a provision by which clergymen accused of a crime could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead in an ec ...
, escaping the sentence for
bigamy In a culture where only monogamous relationships are legally recognized, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their mar ...
. He escaped the lesser sentence of being burnt at the hand by producing a warrant from Queen Anne, which ordered the suspension of all sentences against him. Popular with women, 19th century writer
Anna Jameson Anna Brownell Jameson (17 May 179417 March 1860) was an Anglo-Irish art historian whose work spanned art and literary criticism, philosophy, travel writing, and feminism. She became very well known for her extensive writings. Jameson was conn ...
claimed that Fielding was full of self-love and extravagance, lavishing money on those in his circle. His portrait was painted by three of the great contemporary artists of the time:
Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 30 November 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. He became a naturalised British subject and was kn ...
,
Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723) was a German-born British painter. The leading Portrait painting, portraitist in England during the late Stuart period, Stuart and early Georgian eras ...
and
Willem Wissing Willem Wissing, known in England as William Wissing (1656 – 10 September 1687), was a Dutch portrait artist who worked in England. Biography He was born in either Amsterdam or The Hague, and studied at The Hague under Willem Doudijns (1630� ...
.Jameson, p. 259 After the annulment of his marriage, he became reconciled with Mary Wadsworth, and the couple lived together until his death, from fever, on 12 May 1712. The Duchess of Cleveland had died of
dropsy Edema (American English), also spelled oedema (British English), and also known as fluid retention, swelling, dropsy and hydropsy, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may inclu ...
at her home in
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...
on 9 October 1709.


References


Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fielding, Robert 1650s births 1712 deaths 17th-century English people 17th-century Roman Catholics 18th-century English people 18th-century Roman Catholics English duellists English Jacobites English Roman Catholics People from Warwickshire Recipients of English royal pardons British people convicted of bigamy Irish MPs 1689 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kilkenny constituencies