
Sir Thomas Hanmer, 4th Baronet (24 September 1677 – 7 May 1746) was
Speaker of the
House of Commons of Great Britain
The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union 1707, Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the Pa ...
from 1714 to 1715, discharging the duties of the office with conspicuous impartiality. His second marriage was the subject of much gossip as his wife eloped with his cousin
Thomas Hervey and lived openly with him for the rest of her days. He is, however, perhaps best remembered as being one of the early editors of the works of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
.
He was identified with the
Hanoverian Tory faction at the time of the
Hanoverian Succession
The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catho ...
in 1714.
Life

He was the son of William Hanmer (born ca. 1648,
Angers
Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...
, France, died ca. 1678?,
[ state that William was aged 15 when he entered ]Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England and VI of Scotland, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale ...
on 17 July 1663, so he was probably born c. 1648. says that William predeceased his father Thomas, the 2nd Baronet (1612–1678). William thus may have been under 30 when he died. Thomas was born in 1677. the son of
Sir Thomas Hanmer, 2nd Baronet), and of Peregrine, daughter and co-heiress of
Sir Henry North, 1st Baronet, of
Mildenhall,
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
.
[Burke, John Bernard]
''A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies''
/ref>
He was born between 10 and 11 p.m. in the house of his grandfather Sir Thomas Hanmer, 2nd Baronet, at Bettisfield Park, near Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...
, Clwyd
Clwyd ( , ) is a preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English cerem ...
, Wales (formerly Flintshire
Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...
).[Hanmer, John Lord (1877)]
''A Memorial of the Parish and Family of Hanmer in Flintshire, out of the thirteenth into the nineteenth century''
London: privately printed at the Chiswick Press, pp. 63, 107, 149ff.
His father, William, seems to have died early, and Thomas was educated in Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...
,[His grandmother Susan, wife of Sir Thomas Hanmer, 2nd Baronet, was the daughter of William Hervey, MP for ]Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...
. at Westminster School
Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...
and Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...
, matriculating on 17 October 1693, age 17. His tutor was Robert Freind, D.D., who was later under-master at Westminster in 1699, and headmaster 1711–1733.
Hanmer gained his LL.D.
A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...
, however, ''Com. Reg.''[Comitia Regia: a 'commencement' (or ''comitia maxima'') held at Cambridge University on the occasion of a royal visit, characterised, especially in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, by the conferring of 'mandate degrees' (degrees conferred in response to instructions issued by the crown or, on the occasion of royal visits, by the chancellor) on a huge number of persons at a moment’s notice. In the 19th century, the expression ‘Commencement’ was applied to a congregation on the penultimate Tuesday in June, when prize exercises were recited (see prolusions) and all M.A.s and Doctors in all faculties were created. Source]
'Glossary of Cambridge terminology'
Janus.lib.ac.uk. Accessed 22 December 2015. from Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in 1705.
He succeeded as 4th Baronet in 1701, when his uncle, the 3rd Baronet Sir John Hanmer, died in a duel leaving no issue.[George E. Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Vol. 1'' (1900)]
/ref>
He was a high church
A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...
Tory
A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...
M.P. for Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...
in 1701–02 and 1705–08; for Flintshire
Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...
in 1702–05; and for Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
in 1708–27.[After his mother Peregrine died, he inherited her Mildenhall estate.]
He was unanimously elected Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings.
Systems that have such a position include:
* Speaker of ...
in February 1714, during the last Tory government for over 100 years; the Tory party was split between those (like Hanmer) who wished to maintain the Protestant succession in Britain, and those with Jacobite tendencies who supported James Stuart, the 'Old Pretender' of the Jacobite succession
The Jacobite succession is the line through which Jacobites believed that the crowns of England, Scotland, and Ireland should have descended, applying male preference primogeniture, since the deposition of James II and VII in 1688 and his deat ...
. After the death of Queen Anne in August 1714, George I brought in a government composed entirely of Whigs. The House of Commons was dissolved in January 1715, and Hanmer was not put forward for re-election: in his stead Spencer Compton (later 1st Earl of Wilmington and Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
) was elected Speaker on 17 March 1715,[Dodd, Arthur Herbert]
''Hanmer family''
''Dictionary of Welsh Biography'' online edition. Retrieved 22 December 2015. although Hannmer continued to serve as an MP until 1727.[Sedgwick, Romney R. (ed.]
Hanmer, Sir Thomas, 4th Bt. (1677-1746)
The History of Parliament. Accessed 22 December 2015. The Tory party was proscribed from government office until 1760 and the accession of George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
.[Eveline Cruickshanks, ''Political Untouchables; The Tories and the '45'' (Duckworth, 1979), p. 6.]
He was one of the founding governors of the Foundling Hospital
The Foundling Hospital (formally the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home in London, England, founded in 1739 by the philanthropy, philanthropic Captain (nautical), sea captain ...
, a charity set up for London's abandoned children in 1739, which also became a centre for the arts.[R.H. Nichols and F A. Wray, ''The History of the Foundling Hospital'' London: Oxford University Press, 1935, p. 347.]
He also built and endowed a home for the impoverished elderly in Mildenhall, his mother's home village, in 1722. The home, called Bunbury Rooms for his brother-in-law and biographer Henry Edward Bunbury, serves a similar purpose today.
Literary activities
Hanmer's ''Shakespeare'' was published at Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
in 1743–44, with nearly forty illustrations by Francis Hayman
Francis Hayman (1708 – 2 February 1776) was an English painter and illustrator who became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and later its first librarian.
Life and works
Born in Exeter, Devon, Hayman begun his arti ...
and Hubert Gravelot.[Information fro]
''Washington University in St. Louis University Libraries'' Website article
on special collections containing Shakespearean illustrations, accessed 9 November 2006. ''The Cambridge History of English and American Literature'' states that "The print and binding were magnificent, and caused its value to rise to nine guineas, when Warburton’s edition was going for eighteen shillings."[A.W. Ward, et al., ''The Cambridge history of English and American literature: An encyclopedia in eighteen volumes.']
New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons; Cambridge, England: University Press, 1907–21. Accessed a
bartleby.com
on 9 November 2006.
Hanmer's editing, however, was based on his own selection of emendations from the Shakespeare editions of Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...
and Lewis Theobald, along with his own conjectures, without indicating for the reader what was in his source texts and what was editorially corrected.[, accessed 21 December 2015. (Archived fro]
the original, accessed on 9 November 2006
- dead link) Therefore, Hanmer's edition is not highly regarded today, with the editors of ''The Oxford Shakespeare'' assessing it in ''William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion'' as "one of the worst in the eighteenth century."[Stanley Wells & Gary Taylor, et al., ''William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion'' (NY: Norton, 1997 eprint of Oxford University Press ed., 1987, p. 54. .]
Also, Hanmer became the target of ridicule by Pope, who in his '' Dunciad'' lampoons him under the name Montalto (Book IV, 105ff.) and refers to him in a note (IV 113) as "An eminent person, who was about to publish a very pompous Edition of a great Author, ''at his own expense''" (emphasis original).[Quoted from John Butt, ed., ''The Poems of Alexander Pope.'' New Haven: Yale UP, 1963, p. 772. .]
However, there are some emendations of value that were made by Hanmer which have been accepted into later editions of Shakespeare.
Marriages and scandal
He died in 1746 and was buried at Hanmer. He had married firstly in 1698 Isabella FitzRoy, Duchess of Grafton, the daughter and heiress of Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington (1618 – 28 July 1685) was an England, English statesman.
A supporter of the Cavaliers, Royalists during the English Civil War, he joined the royal family in exile before returning to England at the Stuart R ...
, and widow of Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton
Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton (28 September 1663 – 9 October 1690) was an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England and his mistress Barbara Villiers. A military commander, Henry FitzRoy was appointed colonel of the Grenadier Guar ...
, natural son of King Charles II. She died in 1723.
He married secondly, in 1725, to Elizabeth Folkes, only daughter of Thomas Folkes, of Great Barton, Suffolk. Elizabeth was much younger than her husband and the couple were ill-suited; in particular, she did not share his love of Shakespeare. She caused a notable scandal a few years later by eloping with his cousin Thomas Hervey, younger son of John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol
John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol (27 August 1665 – 20 January 1751) was an English Whig politician.
John Hervey was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, the son of Sir Thomas Hervey. He was educated in Bury and at Clare College, Cambridg ...
, by whom she had a son Thomas. Hervey, who was often said to be insane, subjected Hanmer to years of persecution over property which allegedly belonged to Elizabeth. Hanmer maintained that Elizabeth's father had settled the property strictly on his son-in-law, and that Elizabeth had no right to it. She died in 1741. Hanmer on his side threatened to "prosecute" Hervey (presumably he meant that he would bring a civil action for criminal conversation
At common law, criminal conversation, often abbreviated as ''crim. con.'', is a tort arising from adultery. "Conversation" is an old euphemism for sexual intercourse that is obsolete except as part of this term.
It is similar to breach of pr ...
) but nothing seems to have come of it.
He had no heir by either marriage and so the baronetcy became extinct.
See also
* Shakespeare's editors
References
;Notes
;Citations
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanmer, Sir Thomas, 4th Baronet
1677 births
1746 deaths
104
Speakers of the House of Commons of Great Britain
Early editions of Shakespeare
English book editors
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
British MPs 1715–1722
British MPs 1722–1727
Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies