Jump to content

Henry Jermyn, 1st Baron Dover: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Citation bot (talk | contribs)
Bots
5,185,185 edits
Alter: doi, isbn. Upgrade ISBN10 to 13. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Superegz | Category:Lord-lieutenants of Cambridgeshire‎ | #UCB_Category 23/31
 
(27 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown)
Line 29: Line 29:
|relations = [[Thomas Jermyn (died 1659)|Thomas Jermyn]] (father)<br>[[Thomas Jermyn, 2nd Baron Jermyn|Lord Jermyn]] (brother)<br>[[Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans|Lord St Albans]] (uncle)
|relations = [[Thomas Jermyn (died 1659)|Thomas Jermyn]] (father)<br>[[Thomas Jermyn, 2nd Baron Jermyn|Lord Jermyn]] (brother)<br>[[Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans|Lord St Albans]] (uncle)
}}
}}
'''Henry Jermyn, 3rd Baron Jermyn and 1st Baron Dover''', '''1st Jacobite Earl of Dover''' [[Privy Council of England|PC]] (c. 1636 – 6 April 1708) was an [[England|English]] [[courtier]], peer and [[favourite]] of [[James II of England|James II]].
'''Henry Jermyn, 3rd Baron Jermyn and 1st Baron Dover''', '''1st Jacobite Earl of Dover''' [[Privy Council of England|PC]] (c. 1636 – 6 April 1708) was an [[England|English]] [[courtier]], peer and [[favourite]] of [[James II of England|James II]].<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/14781|title=Jermyn, Henry, third Baron Jermyn and Jacobite earl of Dover}}</ref>


Jermyn was born into a [[Cavaliers|Royalist]] [[Landed gentry|gentry]] family shortly before the [[English Civil War]]. During the exile of the royal family and after the [[Stuart Restoration]] in 1660, he was a member of the court of [[Charles II of England]] thanks to the influence of his powerful uncle, [[Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans]]. At court he surpassed his uncle in reputation for profligacy and was the sometime lover of [[Anne Hyde]], [[Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland|Lady Castlemaine]], [[Anna Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury|Lady Shrewsbury]] and [[Frances Talbot, Countess of Tyrconnell|Frances Jennings]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Dover, Henry Jermyn, Earl of|volume=8|page=453}} This cites:
Jermyn was born into a [[Cavaliers|Royalist]] [[Landed gentry|gentry]] family shortly before the [[English Civil War]]. During the exile of the royal family and after the [[Stuart Restoration]] in 1660, he was a member of the court of [[Charles II of England]] thanks to the influence of his powerful uncle, [[Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans]]. At court he surpassed his uncle in reputation for profligacy and was the sometime lover of [[Anne Hyde]], [[Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland|Lady Castlemaine]], [[Anna Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury|Lady Shrewsbury]] and [[Frances Talbot, Countess of Tyrconnell|Frances Jennings]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Dover, Henry Jermyn, Earl of|volume=8|page=453}} This cites:
Line 35: Line 35:
*Anthony Hamilton, ''Memoirs of Grammont'' (Bohn edition, London, 1846);
*Anthony Hamilton, ''Memoirs of Grammont'' (Bohn edition, London, 1846);
*[[James Stanier Clarke]], ''Life of James II'', 2 vols. (London, 1816);
*[[James Stanier Clarke]], ''Life of James II'', 2 vols. (London, 1816);
*[[Narcissus Luttrell]], ''Brief Relation of State Affairs 1678-1714'', 6 vols. ([[Oxford]], 1857).</ref><ref name="Macaulay 1849 47">{{cite book |last=Macaulay |first=Thomas Babington |author-link=Thomas Babington Macaulay |date=1849 |title=The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2) |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_History_of_England_from_the_Accessio.html?id=rVQBAAAAQAAJ&redir_esc=y |location= |publisher=Longman & Company |page=47 |isbn=}}</ref>
*[[Narcissus Luttrell]], ''Brief Relation of State Affairs 1678-1714'', 6 vols. ([[Oxford]], 1857).</ref><ref name="Macaulay 1849 47">{{cite book |last=Macaulay |first=Thomas Babington |author-link=Thomas Babington Macaulay |date=1849 |title=The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rVQBAAAAQAAJ |location= |publisher=Longman & Company |page=47 |isbn=}}</ref>


A convert to [[Roman Catholic|Roman Catholicism]], he was a childhood friend of [[James, Duke of York]] and received many honours upon James' accession to the throne in 1685. He remained loyal to James after the [[Glorious Revolution]] in 1688 and fought as a [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] during the [[Williamite War in Ireland]], but in 1690 he pledged his loyalty to [[William III of England|William]] and [[Mary II of England|Mary]]. He was referred to in the ''Memoirs of the Count de Grammont'' as "Little Jermyn" and "the favoured of [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] and the desperate duellist".<ref>{{cite book |last=Hamilton (Count) |first=Anthony |author-link= |date=1902 |title=Memoirs of the Count de Grammont |url= |location=Great Britain |publisher=Unit Library |page=93 |isbn=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ellis |first=George-James |author-link= |date=1829 |title=The Ellis Correspondence |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=M6RSAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA56&lpg=PA56&dq=henry+jermyn+lord+dover+catholic&source=bl&ots=JToGtP595i&sig=ACfU3U165fVSsRe-RLhql8D-4lkrBlT0uQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiYqL7FsvWAAxWWSEEAHVP-B9c4FBDoAXoECB0QAw#v=onepage&q=henry%20jermyn%20lord%20dover%20catholic&f=false |location= |publisher=Henry Colburn |page=65 |isbn=}}</ref>
A convert to [[Roman Catholic|Roman Catholicism]], he was a childhood friend of [[James, Duke of York]] and received many honours upon James' accession to the throne in 1685. He remained loyal to James after the [[Glorious Revolution]] in 1688 and fought as a [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] during the [[Williamite War in Ireland]], but in 1690 he pledged his loyalty to [[William III of England|William]] and [[Mary II of England|Mary]]. He was referred to in the ''Memoirs of the Count de Grammont'' as "Little Jermyn" and "the favoured of [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] and the desperate duellist".<ref>{{cite book |last=Hamilton (Count) |first=Anthony |author-link= |date=1902 |title=Memoirs of the Count de Grammont |url= |location=Great Britain |publisher=Unit Library |page=93 |isbn=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ellis |first=George-James |author-link= |date=1829 |title=The Ellis Correspondence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6RSAAAAcAAJ&dq=henry+jermyn+lord+dover+catholic&pg=PA56 |location= |publisher=Henry Colburn |page=65 |isbn=}}</ref>


==Early life and family==
==Early life and family==
Jermyn was the second son of [[Thomas Jermyn (died 1659)|Thomas Jermyn]], of [[Rushbrooke, Suffolk]], who died in 1659, and his wife Rebecca Rodway, who married secondly [[Henry Brouncker, 3rd Viscount Brouncker]].<ref name="EB1911"/> Throughout Jermyn's childhood his family, who owned large estates in [[Suffolk]], were ardently loyal to the [[House of Stuart]]. Jermyn's father, an [[equerry]] to [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], supported the king during the Civil War and spent a period in exile during the [[Commonwealth of England]]. His grandfather, [[Thomas Jermyn (died 1645)|Thomas Jermyn]], had served as [[Comptroller of the Household]] to Charles I, while Jermyn's uncle, Lord St Albans, was a close associate of [[Henrietta Maria of France]] during her period of refuge in France from 1644.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=St Albans, Henry Jermyn, Earl of}}</ref> Jermyn was raised as a Protestant within the established [[Church of England]].<ref name="Young">{{cite journal |last1=Young |first1=Francis |date=2006 |title='An Horrid Popish Plot': The Failure of the Catholic Aspirations in Bury St Edmunds 1685–88 |url=https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20XLI%20Part%202%20(2006)_An%20horid%20popish%20plot%20the%20failure%20of%20catholic%20aspiration%20in%20Bury%20St%20Edmunds%201985%20to%2088%20F%20Young_209%20to%20225.pdf |journal=Suffolk Institute of Archaeology & History |volume=41 |issue= |pages=210 |doi= |access-date=24 August 2023}}</ref>
Jermyn was the second son of [[Thomas Jermyn (died 1659)|Thomas Jermyn]], of [[Rushbrooke, Suffolk]], who died in 1659, and his wife Rebecca Rodway, who married secondly [[Henry Brouncker, 3rd Viscount Brouncker]].<ref name="EB1911"/> Throughout Jermyn's childhood his family, who owned large estates in [[Suffolk]], were ardently loyal to the [[House of Stuart]]. Jermyn's father, an [[equerry]] to [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], supported the king during the Civil War and spent a period in exile during the [[Commonwealth of England]]. His grandfather, [[Thomas Jermyn (died 1645)|Thomas Jermyn]], had served as [[Comptroller of the Household]] to Charles I, while Jermyn's uncle, Lord St Albans, was a close associate of [[Henrietta Maria of France]] during her period of refuge in France from 1644.<ref name="St Albans">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=St Albans, Henry Jermyn, Earl of}}</ref> Jermyn was raised as a Protestant within the established [[Church of England]].<ref name="Young">{{cite journal |last1=Young |first1=Francis |date=2006 |title='An Horrid Popish Plot': The Failure of the Catholic Aspirations in Bury St Edmunds 1685–88 |url=https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20XLI%20Part%202%20(2006)_An%20horid%20popish%20plot%20the%20failure%20of%20catholic%20aspiration%20in%20Bury%20St%20Edmunds%201985%20to%2088%20F%20Young_209%20to%20225.pdf |journal=Suffolk Institute of Archaeology & History |volume=41 |issue= |pages=210 |doi= |access-date=24 August 2023}}</ref>


==Courtier under Charles II==
==Courtier under Charles II==
Jermyn joined his father in exile from England after 1645. Lord St Albans, who was secretary to the Queen Dowager until her death in 1669, obtained places at the exiled royal court for his nephews, Jermyn and his elder brother [[Thomas Jermyn, 2nd Baron Jermyn|Thomas]]. Jermyn was given a post in the household of the [[James, Duke of York]], despite the strong disapproval of Charles II.<ref name="EB1911"/> The prince and Jermyn became firm friends. By the mid-1650s, Jermyn had gained a reputation for promiscuity and profligacy. He was also a life-long [[gambler]]. [[Thomas Babington Macaulay]] wrote that by 1685, Jermyn had "been distinguished more than twenty years before by his vagrant amours and desperate [[duels]]".<ref name="Macaulay 1849 47"/>
Jermyn joined his father in exile from England after 1645. Lord St Albans, who was secretary to the Queen Dowager until her death in 1669, obtained places at the exiled royal court for his nephews, Jermyn and his elder brother [[Thomas Jermyn, 2nd Baron Jermyn|Thomas]]. Jermyn was given a position as a [[Page (servant)|page]] in the household of [[James, Duke of York]], despite the strong disapproval of Charles II.<ref name="EB1911"/> The prince and Jermyn became firm friends. By the mid-1650s, Jermyn had gained a reputation for promiscuity and profligacy. He was also a life-long [[gambler]]. [[Thomas Babington Macaulay]] wrote that by 1685, Jermyn had "been distinguished more than twenty years before by his vagrant amours and desperate [[duels]]".<ref name="Macaulay 1849 47"/>


[[File:Peter Lely (1618-1680) (and studio) - Henry Jermyn (d.1684), 1st Earl of St Albans, KG, in Garter Robes - 108820 - National Trust.jpg|thumb|right|Jermyn's influential uncle, the Royalist courtier [[Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans|Lord St Albans]]]]
[[File:Peter Lely (1618-1680) (and studio) - Henry Jermyn (d.1684), 1st Earl of St Albans, KG, in Garter Robes - 108820 - National Trust.jpg|thumb|right|Jermyn's influential uncle, the Royalist courtier [[Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans|Lord St Albans]]]]
According to rumour, his most notable conquest was Charles's widowed sister [[Mary of Orange]], whom he met several times during the period of exile, and there were even stories that they were secretly married.<ref>{{cite DNB |wstitle=Mary (1631-1660) |last=Goodwin |first=Gordon |author-link=Gordon Goodwin |volume=36 |pages=402 |quote=Unfounded rumours of a liaison with Henry Jermyn, first baron Dover [q. v.], were at one time in circulation.}}</ref> Historians generally discount these rumours, but Charles II took them seriously, and reprimanded his sister for her lack of discretion, but with no effect: Mary sharply reminded her brother that his own love affairs hardly entitled him to judge her moral conduct. Charles was especially angry because of the similar rumours that Jermyn's uncle Lord St Albans had secretly married the Queen Dowager.<ref name="EB1911"/> As [[John Phillipps Kenyon]] remarked, "to have one Jermyn as an in-law would have been bad enough; to have two would be intolerable". At this time, Jermyn also had a relationship with [[Anne Hyde]], who was serving as a [[maid of honour]] to Mary in [[Breda]].<ref>{{cite DNB |wstitle=Hyde, Anne |last=Ward |first=Adolphus William |authorlink=Adolphus William Ward |volume=28 |pages=367 }}</ref>
According to rumour, his most notable conquest was Charles's widowed sister [[Mary of Orange]], whom he met several times during the period of exile, and there were even stories that they were secretly married.<ref>{{cite DNB |wstitle=Mary (1631-1660) |last=Goodwin |first=Gordon |author-link=Gordon Goodwin |volume=36 |pages=402 |quote=Unfounded rumours of a liaison with Henry Jermyn, first baron Dover [q. v.], were at one time in circulation.}}</ref> Historians generally discount these rumours, but Charles II took them seriously, and reprimanded his sister for her lack of discretion, but with no effect: Mary sharply reminded her brother that his own love affairs hardly entitled him to judge her moral conduct. Charles was especially angry because of the similar rumours that Jermyn's uncle Lord St Albans had secretly married the Queen Dowager.<ref name="EB1911"/> As [[John Phillipps Kenyon]] remarked, "to have one Jermyn as an in-law would have been bad enough; to have two would be intolerable". At this time, Jermyn also had a relationship with [[Anne Hyde]], who was serving as a [[maid of honour]] to Mary in [[Breda]].<ref>{{cite DNB |wstitle=Hyde, Anne |last=Ward |first=Adolphus William |authorlink=Adolphus William Ward |volume=28 |pages=367 }}</ref>


Jermyn was a young man, aged 24, at the time of the restoration of Charles to the throne in 1660. James appointed him his [[master of horse]] and he rode in the royal retinue at Charles' coronation on 22 April 1661. The restoration, however, did not lead to a change in Jermyn's rakish behaviour. In a notorious duel with Colonel Thomas Howard, (younger brother of [[Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle]]), in August 1662, which [[Samuel Pepys]] refers to in his diary, Jermyn was left for dead.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1662/08/ |title=Tuesday 19 August 1662 |last=Pepys |first=Samuel |date=19 August 1662 |website=pepysdiary.com |publisher= |access-date=23 August 2023 |quote=By and by to sit at the office; and Mr. Coventry did tell us of the duell between Mr. Jermyn, nephew to my Lord St. Albans, and Colonel Giles Rawlins, the latter of whom is killed, and the first mortally wounded, as it is thought. They fought against Captain Thomas Howard, my Lord Carlisle’s brother, and another unknown; who, they say, had armour on that they could not be hurt, so that one of their swords went up to the hilt against it. They had horses ready, and are fled. But what is most strange, Howard sent one challenge, but they could not meet, and then another, and did meet yesterday at the old Pall Mall at St. James’s, and would not to the last tell Jermyn what the quarrel was; nor do any body know. The Court is much concerned in this fray, and I am glad of it; hoping that it will cause some good laws against it.}}</ref> He recovered, but his second Giles Rawlings was killed by Howard's second Colonel [[Carey Dillon, 5th Earl of Roscommon|Carey Dillon]], later the 5th [[Earl of Roscommon]]. The cause of the dispute is said to have been the rivalry between Jermyn and Howard for the affections of Lady Shrewsbury, who was notorious for the number of her lovers.<ref name="EB1911"/> [[Elizabeth, Countess de Gramont]] resisted Jermyn's advances.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Melville |first=Lewis |date=1928 |title=The Windsor Beauties |chapter=Chapter V - Elizabeth, Countess de Grammont |publisher=Hutchinson |location=London |oclc=2991434 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.524418/page/n113/ |page=112 |quote=Miss Hamilton could and did resist the advances of the almost irresistible Henry Jermyn, famous for his conquests.}}</ref> Having previously offended the king by courting his sister Mary, Jermyn proceeded to give further offence by having an affair with Lady Castlemaine, by then the chief royal mistress, and he was banished from court for six months.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keating |first1=Erin |date=2015 |title=In the Bedroom of the King: Affective Politics in the Restoration Secret History |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/jearlmodcultstud.15.2.58 |journal=Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=72 |doi= |access-date=23 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Uglow |first=Jenny |author-link= |date=2009 |title=A Gambling Man: Charles II and the Restoration |url= |location= |publisher=Faber & Faber |page=453 |isbn=9780571255535}}</ref>
Jermyn was a young man, aged 24, at the time of the restoration of Charles to the throne in 1660. James appointed him his [[master of horse]] and he rode in the royal retinue at Charles' coronation on 22 April 1661. The restoration, however, did not lead to a change in Jermyn's rakish behaviour. In a notorious duel with Colonel Thomas Howard, (younger brother of [[Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle]]), in August 1662, which [[Samuel Pepys]] refers to in his diary, Jermyn was left for dead.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1662/08/ |title=Tuesday 19 August 1662 |last=Pepys |first=Samuel |date=19 August 1662 |website=pepysdiary.com |publisher= |access-date=23 August 2023 |quote=By and by to sit at the office; and Mr. Coventry did tell us of the duell between Mr. Jermyn, nephew to my Lord St. Albans, and Colonel Giles Rawlins, the latter of whom is killed, and the first mortally wounded, as it is thought. They fought against Captain Thomas Howard, my Lord Carlisle’s brother, and another unknown; who, they say, had armour on that they could not be hurt, so that one of their swords went up to the hilt against it. They had horses ready, and are fled. But what is most strange, Howard sent one challenge, but they could not meet, and then another, and did meet yesterday at the old Pall Mall at St. James’s, and would not to the last tell Jermyn what the quarrel was; nor do any body know. The Court is much concerned in this fray, and I am glad of it; hoping that it will cause some good laws against it.}}</ref> He recovered, but his second Giles Rawlings was killed by Howard's second Colonel [[Carey Dillon, 5th Earl of Roscommon|Carey Dillon]], later the 5th [[Earl of Roscommon]]. The cause of the dispute is said to have been the rivalry between Jermyn and Howard for the affections of Lady Shrewsbury, who was notorious for the number of her lovers.<ref name="EB1911"/>


[[Elizabeth, Countess de Gramont]] reportedly resisted Jermyn's attempts to seduce her.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Melville |first=Lewis |date=1928 |title=The Windsor Beauties |chapter=Chapter V - Elizabeth, Countess de Grammont |publisher=Hutchinson |location=London |oclc=2991434 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.524418/page/n113/ |page=112 |quote=Miss Hamilton could and did resist the advances of the almost irresistible Henry Jermyn, famous for his conquests.}}</ref> Having previously offended the king by courting his sister Mary, Jermyn proceeded to give further offence by having an affair with Lady Castlemaine, by then the chief royal mistress, and he was banished from court for six months.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keating |first1=Erin |date=2015 |title=In the Bedroom of the King: Affective Politics in the Restoration Secret History |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/jearlmodcultstud.15.2.58 |journal=Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=72 |doi= 10.1353/jem.2015.0013|access-date=23 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Uglow |first=Jenny |author-link= |date=2009 |title=A Gambling Man: Charles II and the Restoration |url= |location= |publisher=Faber & Faber |page=453 |isbn=9780571255535}}</ref> In 1667, Pepys recorded that King Charles was jealous of Jermyn because Lady Castlemaine was in love with him, and that she was furious with Jermyn because he was allegedly planning to marry [[Mary, Countess of Falmouth and Dorset]] (another of Charles' mistresses).<ref name="ODNB"/>
⚫
Jermyn's uncle was made [[Lord Chamberlain]] in 1672, assuring his position at court. In 1674, he purchased the manor and estate of [[Cheveley]], near [[Newmarket, Suffolk|Newmarket]]. By 1681, Jermyn had rebuilt the house and commissioned [[Jan Siberechts]] to decorate much of the interior. The principle rooms of the house were filled with fine paintings, including one by [[Peter Paul Rubens|Rubens]], and portraits of members of the royal family. He also had a Catholic chapel constructed at the house.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol10/pp46-49 |title=Cheveley: Manors and estate |last1=Wareham |first1=A. F. |last2=Wright |first2=A. P. M. |date=2002 |website=British History Online |publisher= |access-date=24 August 2023 |quote=}}</ref> In 1675 he married Judith Poley (1654–1726), daughter of [[Sir Edmund Poley]] of [[Badley]], Suffolk. The couple did not have any children.<ref name="EB1911"/> At some point around 1676, Jermyn converted to Roman Catholicism.<ref name="Young"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Hervey |first=S |author-link= |date=1903 |title=Rushbrook Parish Registers 1567 to 1850 with Jermyn and Davers Annals |url= |location= |publisher=Woodbridge |page=318 |isbn=}}</ref>

Jermyn's uncle was made [[Lord Chamberlain]] in 1672, which seemed to assure his position at court.<ref name="St Albans"/> However, at some point in the early 1670s, Jermyn converted to Roman Catholicism.<ref name="Young"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Hervey |first=S |author-link= |date=1903 |title=Rushbrook Parish Registers 1567 to 1850 with Jermyn and Davers Annals |url= |location= |publisher=Woodbridge |page=318 |isbn=}}</ref> As a result, following the passing of the [[Test Act 1673]], Jermyn was forced to resign his position in James' household and was granted a conciliatory pension of £500.<ref name="ODNB"/>

⚫
In 1674, he purchased the manor and estate of [[Cheveley]], near [[Newmarket, Suffolk|Newmarket]]. By 1681, Jermyn had rebuilt the house and commissioned [[Jan Siberechts]] to decorate much of the interior. The principle rooms of the house were filled with fine paintings, including one by [[Peter Paul Rubens|Rubens]], and portraits of members of the royal family. He also had a Catholic chapel constructed at the house.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol10/pp46-49 |title=Cheveley: Manors and estate |last1=Wareham |first1=A. F. |last2=Wright |first2=A. P. M. |date=2002 |website=British History Online |publisher= |access-date=24 August 2023 |quote=}}</ref>

On 17 April 1675 he married Judith Poley (1654–1726), daughter of [[Sir Edmund Poley]] of [[Badley]], Suffolk. The couple did not have any children.<ref name="EB1911"/>


==Favourite of James II==
==Favourite of James II==
[[File:James II by John Riley.png|thumb|[[James II of England|James II]], with whom Jermyn was closely associated between the 1640s and 1690]]
[[File:James II by John Riley.png|thumb|[[James II of England|James II]], with whom Jermyn was closely associated between the 1640s and 1690]]
Upon the accession of the Duke of York to the throne as James II on 6 February 1685, Jermyn remained one of his closest friends and advisors. Jermyn was the first of James' associates to be raised to the [[Peerage of England]] when, on 13 May 1685, he was made '''Baron Dover''' in the county of [[Kent]].<ref name="Ruvigny">{{cite book |last=Ruvigny |first=Marquis de |author-link=Melville Henry Massue |date=1902 |title=The Jacobite Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Grants of Honour |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Jacobite_Peerage_Baronetage_Knightag.html?id=WrUEAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y |location= |publisher=T. C. & E. C. Jack |page=43 |isbn=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dugdale |first=William |author-link= |date=1812 |title=The Antient Usage in Bearing of Arms |url= |location= |publisher=Samuel Bagster |page=407 |isbn=}}</ref> The following year he was given the position of [[Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire]]. At court he was a close ally of the [[Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine|Earl of Castlemaine]], [[Ignatius White]] and the [[Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell|Earl of Tyrconnell]]. This group collectively pressured James to stay true to his Catholic faith in the face of growing criticism from parliament.<ref>{{cite book |last=Macaulay |first=Thomas Babington |author-link=Thomas Babington Macaulay |date=1849 |title=The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2) |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_History_of_England_from_the_Accessio.html?id=rVQBAAAAQAAJ&redir_esc=y |location= |publisher=Longman & Company |pages=50–51 |isbn=}}</ref> In May 1686, James created a troop in the [[Life Guards (United Kingdom)|Life Guards]] (4th Troop) specifically for Catholics and made Lord Dover its colonel.<ref>{{cite book |last=White-Spunner |first=Barney |author-link= |date=2006 |title=Horse Guards |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Horse_Guards.html?id=hP7yDpMGiEMC&redir_esc=y |location= |publisher=Pan Macmillan |pages=98–99 |isbn=}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carman |first1=William Y. |date=1988 |title=Richard Gifford of the 4th Troop of Horse Guards |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44229750 |journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |volume=66 |issue=265 |pages=2 |doi= |access-date=23 August 2023}}</ref> The same year James appointed him Lieutenant-General of the Royal Guard.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Macaulay |first=Thomas Babington |author-link=Thomas Babington Macaulay |date=1849 |title=The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2) |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_History_of_England_from_the_Accessio.html?id=rVQBAAAAQAAJ&redir_esc=y |location= |publisher=Longman & Company |page=66 |isbn=}}</ref> However, rather than create a new corps of English Catholic army officers loyal to James, to help cover his gambling debts Dover sold half of the available commissions to refugee [[Huguenot]] gentlemen.<ref>{{cite book |last=Webb |first=Stephen Saunders |author-link= |date=1995 |title=Lord Churchill’s Coup: The Anglo–American Empire and the Glorious Revolution Reconsidered |url= |location= |publisher=Syracuse |page=108 |isbn=}}</ref> On 17 August 1686, Dover was one of the first Catholics to be admitted to the [[Privy Council of England]] since the reign of [[Mary I of England|Mary I]].<ref name="Ruvigny"/>
Upon the accession of the Duke of York to the throne as James II on 6 February 1685, Jermyn remained one of his closest friends and advisors. Jermyn was the first of James' associates to be raised to the [[Peerage of England]] when, on 13 May 1685, he was made '''Baron Dover''' in the county of [[Kent]].<ref name="Ruvigny">{{cite book |last=Ruvigny |first=Marquis de |author-link=Melville Henry Massue |date=1902 |title=The Jacobite Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Grants of Honour |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WrUEAAAAIAAJ |location= |publisher=T. C. & E. C. Jack |page=43 |isbn=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dugdale |first=William |author-link= |date=1812 |title=The Antient Usage in Bearing of Arms |url= |location= |publisher=Samuel Bagster |page=407 |isbn=}}</ref> The new Lord Dover was able to return to court, where he became an ally of the [[Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine|Earl of Castlemaine]], [[Ignatius White]] and the [[Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell|Earl of Tyrconnell]]. This group collectively influenced James to stay true to his Catholic faith in the face of growing criticism from parliament.<ref>{{cite book |last=Macaulay |first=Thomas Babington |author-link=Thomas Babington Macaulay |date=1849 |title=The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rVQBAAAAQAAJ |location= |publisher=Longman & Company |pages=50–51 |isbn=}}</ref>


On 4 January 1687 Dover was appointed a Commissioner of the Treasury to serve alongside [[Stephen Fox]], [[Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin|Lord Godolphin]] and [[John Belasyse, 1st Baron Belasyse|Lord Belasyse]], however the appointment of a known gambler ("a man of notorious incompetence"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boyer |first1=Richard E. |date=1964 |title=English Declarations of Indulgence of 1687 and 1688 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25017471 |journal=The Catholic Historical Review |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=339 |doi= |access-date=23 August 2023}}</ref>) to the role was met with some ridicule.<ref>{{cite book |last=Banks |first=Thomas Christopher |author-link= |date=1809 |title=The Dormant and Extinct Baronage of England (Volume 3) |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=maADLzFcpI8C&pg=PA259&lpg=PA259&dq=henry+jermyn+baron+dover&source=bl&ots=sB1Th1YLks&sig=ACfU3U1eukRXAMcQh_fP1wq7tEgBj2_PTQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjjga-RgvOAAxWkV0EAHbEjBq84MhDoAXoECAcQAw#v=onepage&q=henry%20jermyn%20baron%20dover&f=false |location= |publisher=J. White |page=259 |isbn=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Macaulay |first=Thomas Babington |author-link=Thomas Babington Macaulay |date=1849 |title=The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2) |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_History_of_England_from_the_Accessio.html?id=rVQBAAAAQAAJ&redir_esc=y |location= |publisher=Longman & Company |page=158 |isbn=}}</ref> In 1688 he was made [[List of stewards of Kingston upon Hull|High Steward of Kingston upon Hull]]. Despite his debauched private life, as a politician, he was at times a moderating influence on the king. He strongly advised James against repealing the [[Act of Settlement 1662]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Macaulay |first=Thomas Babington |author-link=Thomas Babington Macaulay |date=1849 |title=The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2) |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_History_of_England_from_the_Accessio.html?id=rVQBAAAAQAAJ&redir_esc=y |location= |publisher=Longman & Company |page=144 |isbn=}}</ref> While his loyalty was never in question, he was not afraid to speak his mind to James, or to disagree with him in public.<ref name="EB1911"/>
In May 1686, James created a troop in the [[Life Guards (United Kingdom)|Life Guards]] (4th Troop) specifically for Catholics and made Lord Dover its colonel.<ref>{{cite book |last=White-Spunner |first=Barney |author-link= |date=2006 |title=Horse Guards |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hP7yDpMGiEMC |location= |publisher=Pan Macmillan |pages=98–99 |isbn=978-1-4050-5574-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carman |first1=William Y. |date=1988 |title=Richard Gifford of the 4th Troop of Horse Guards |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44229750 |journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |volume=66 |issue=265 |pages=2 |doi= |jstor=44229750 |access-date=23 August 2023}}</ref> The same year James appointed him Lieutenant-General of the Royal Guard.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Macaulay |first=Thomas Babington |author-link=Thomas Babington Macaulay |date=1849 |title=The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rVQBAAAAQAAJ |location= |publisher=Longman & Company |page=66 |isbn=}}</ref> However, rather than create a new corps of English Catholic army officers loyal to James, to help cover his gambling debts Dover sold half of the available commissions to refugee [[Huguenot]] gentlemen.<ref>{{cite book |last=Webb |first=Stephen Saunders |author-link= |date=1995 |title=Lord Churchill's Coup: The Anglo–American Empire and the Glorious Revolution Reconsidered |url= |location= |publisher=Syracuse |page=108 |isbn=}}</ref> On 17 August 1686, Dover was one of the first Catholics to be admitted to the [[Privy Council of England]] since the reign of [[Mary I of England|Mary I]].<ref name="Ruvigny"/> Shortly afterwards he was given the position of [[Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire]]; the first Catholic to be appointed a lord lieutenant.<ref name="ODNB"/>


On 4 January 1687 Dover was appointed a [[Commissioner of the Treasury]] to serve alongside [[Stephen Fox]], [[Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin|Lord Godolphin]] and [[John Belasyse, 1st Baron Belasyse|Lord Belasyse]]. However, the appointment of a known gambler ("a man of notorious incompetence"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boyer |first1=Richard E. |date=1964 |title=English Declarations of Indulgence of 1687 and 1688 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25017471 |journal=The Catholic Historical Review |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=339 |doi= |jstor=25017471 |access-date=23 August 2023}}</ref>) to the role was met with some ridicule.<ref>{{cite book |last=Banks |first=Thomas Christopher |author-link= |date=1809 |title=The Dormant and Extinct Baronage of England (Volume 3) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=maADLzFcpI8C&dq=henry+jermyn+baron+dover&pg=PA259 |location= |publisher=J. White |page=259 |isbn=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Macaulay |first=Thomas Babington |author-link=Thomas Babington Macaulay |date=1849 |title=The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rVQBAAAAQAAJ |location= |publisher=Longman & Company |page=158 |isbn=}}</ref> In 1688 he was made [[List of stewards of Kingston upon Hull|High Steward of Kingston upon Hull]]. Despite his debauched private life, as a politician, he was at times a moderating influence on the king. He strongly advised James against repealing the [[Act of Settlement 1662]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Macaulay |first=Thomas Babington |author-link=Thomas Babington Macaulay |date=1849 |title=The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rVQBAAAAQAAJ |location= |publisher=Longman & Company |page=144 |isbn=}}</ref> While his loyalty was never in question at this stage, he was not afraid to speak his mind to James, or to disagree with him in public.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Revolution and war in Ireland==
[[File:William of Orange III and his Dutch army land in Brixham, 1688.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688 precipitated a dramatic reversal in Lord Dover's fortunes]]
[[File:William of Orange III and his Dutch army land in Brixham, 1688.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688 precipitated a dramatic reversal in Lord Dover's fortunes]]
At the [[Glorious Revolution]] in 1688, Dover remained loyal to James and followed him into exile in France, his house at Cheveley Park having been attacked by a Protestant mob. He landed at [[Calais]] on 20 January 1689 with Lady Dover and [[George Douglas, 1st Earl of Dumbarton]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Kavanagh Boulger |first=Demetrius Charles de |author-link= |date=1911 |title=The Battle of the Boyne |url=https://readerslibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Battle-of-the-Boyne.pdf |location=London |publisher=Martin Becker |page=17 |isbn=}}</ref> Dover accompanied James when he landed in Ireland in March 1689 to reclaim the throne. On 20 June 1689 he was [[attainted]] by the English government. In July 1689 the deposed sovereign created him Baron Jermyn of [[Royston, Hertfordshire|Royston]], Baron [[Ipswich]], Viscount [[Cheveley]] and Earl of [[Dover]] in the [[Jacobite Peerage]].<ref name="Ruvigny"/> These titles were not recognised by the English government, although Dover became generally known as the Earl of Dover. During the conflict, James regularly despatched Dover on missions to [[Dublin]], and on one occasion to France. A lieutenant-general in James' Jacobite army, he commanded the Gards du Corps at the [[Battle of the Boyne]] in 1690.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/research/researchcentresandnetworks/robertburnsstudies/ourresearch/jacobiteofficersdatabase/thedatabase/j/ |title=JERMYN, Henry, VISCOUNT DOVER (d1708). Lt.-General. Colonel, Gards du Corps. |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=Officers of the Jacobite Armies |publisher=Centre for Robert Burns Studies, University of Glasgow |access-date=23 August 2023 |quote=}}</ref> Dover subsequently found himself unpopular with both James' Irish and French supporters. Having been appointed Intendant-General at [[Cork (city)|Cork]], he quarrelled with his former friend, the [[Antonin Nompar de Caumont, 1st Duke of Lauzun|Duke of Lauzun]], and James threw blame at Dover for the poor reception of French reinforcements which landed in Ireland in March 1690. Lauzun made a formal complaint to James about Dover. The French Marquis de Sourches expressed that Lord Dover should have been executed as a traitor for his "inexcusable incompetence and neglect of duty".<ref>{{cite book |last=Kavanagh Boulger |first=Demetrius Charles de |author-link= |date=1911 |title=The Battle of the Boyne |url=https://readerslibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Battle-of-the-Boyne.pdf |location=London |publisher=Martin Becker |page=78 |isbn=}}</ref>
At the [[Glorious Revolution]] in 1688, Dover remained loyal to James, who appointed him [[Governor of Portsmouth]] in November 1688. Dover followed James into exile in France, his house at Cheveley Park having been attacked by a Protestant mob.<ref name="ODNB"/> He landed at [[Calais]] on 20 January 1689 with Lady Dover and [[George Douglas, 1st Earl of Dumbarton]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Kavanagh Boulger |first=Demetrius Charles de |author-link= |date=1911 |title=The Battle of the Boyne |url=https://readerslibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Battle-of-the-Boyne.pdf |location=London |publisher=Martin Becker |page=17 |isbn=}}</ref> Dover accompanied James when he landed in Ireland in March 1689 to reclaim the throne. On 20 June 1689 he was [[attainted]] by the English government. In July 1689 the deposed sovereign created him Baron Jermyn of [[Royston, Hertfordshire|Royston]], Baron [[Ipswich]], Viscount [[Cheveley]] and Earl of [[Dover]] in the [[Jacobite Peerage]].<ref name="Ruvigny"/> These titles were not recognised by the English government, although Dover became generally known as the Earl of Dover. During the conflict, James despatched Dover on missions to [[Dublin]], and on one occasion to France to petition [[Louis XIV]] for greater French assistance.<ref name="ODNB"/> A lieutenant-general in James' Jacobite army and commander of the Gards du Corps, Dover assured the [[François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois|Marquis de Louvois]] that the war in Ireland could be won with French support.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/research/researchcentresandnetworks/robertburnsstudies/ourresearch/jacobiteofficersdatabase/thedatabase/j/ |title=JERMYN, Henry, VISCOUNT DOVER (d1708). Lt.-General. Colonel, Gards du Corps. |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=Officers of the Jacobite Armies |publisher=Centre for Robert Burns Studies, University of Glasgow |access-date=23 August 2023 |quote=}}</ref>
Dover subsequently found himself increasingly unpopular with both James' Irish and French supporters. Having been appointed Intendant-General at [[Cork (city)|Cork]], he quarrelled with his former friend, the [[Antonin Nompar de Caumont, 1st Duke of Lauzun|Duke of Lauzun]], and James threw blame at Dover for the poor reception of French reinforcements which landed in Ireland in March 1690. When the French troops arrived in Dublin, Lauzun made a formal complaint to James about Dover. The French Marquis de Sourches expressed that Lord Dover should have been executed as a traitor for his "inexcusable incompetence and neglect of duty".<ref>{{cite book |last=Kavanagh Boulger |first=Demetrius Charles de |author-link= |date=1911 |title=The Battle of the Boyne |url=https://readerslibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Battle-of-the-Boyne.pdf |location=London |publisher=Martin Becker |page=78 |isbn=}}</ref>


His friendship with James over, Dover fled to [[Bruges]] where he lived in poverty for a time, before deciding to make his submission to William III; he "threw himself at William's feat, promised to live peaceably, and was graciously reassured that he had nothing to fear". Nonetheless, in February 1692 the [[House of Commons of England]] voted by 119 votes to 112 against a clause proposed by [[Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers|Viscount Savage]] that Dover's property should be exempted from confiscation by the crown.<ref>{{cite book |last=Macaulay |first=Thomas Babington |author-link=Thomas Babington Macaulay |date=1849 |title=The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2) |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_History_of_England_from_the_Accessio.html?id=rVQBAAAAQAAJ&redir_esc=y |location= |publisher=Longman & Company |page=350 |isbn=}}</ref>
His friendship with James over, Dover resigned in June 1690 and recommended that James should make peace with William III and join the alliance against France. This only served to worsen the relationship between Dover and the deposed king. Dover petitioned [[Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell|Tyrconnell]] for a passport to leave Ireland, but Tyrconnell refused.<ref name="ODNB"/> Dover went to [[Waterford]] and eventually managed to procure passage out of Ireland. He fled to [[Bruges]] where he lived in poverty for a time, before deciding to return to England and make his submission to William III in September 1691; he "threw himself at William's feat, promised to live peaceably, and was graciously reassured that he had nothing to fear". In November he was granted a pardon by the king. Nonetheless, in February 1692 the [[House of Commons of England]] voted by 119 votes to 112 against a clause proposed by [[Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers|Viscount Savage]] that Dover's attainder should be overturned.<ref>{{cite book |last=Macaulay |first=Thomas Babington |author-link=Thomas Babington Macaulay |date=1849 |title=The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rVQBAAAAQAAJ |location= |publisher=Longman & Company |page=350 |isbn=}}</ref>


==Later life==
==Later life==
He spent the rest of his life living quietly at his London townhouse or at his country estate at Cheveley Park. He succeeded his brother Thomas as '''3rd Baron Jermyn''' in 1703, and died at Cheveley on 6 April 1708.<ref name="Ruvigny"/> In accordance with his will, his body was moved to the English Convent and Friary of the [[Discalced Carmelites]] in Bruges, where he was buried in an elaborate Catholic ceremony on 24 May 1708.<ref name="Ruvigny"/> As he left no children by his wife, Judith, his titles became extinct at his death.<ref name="EB1911"/> Cheveley was left to his wife for the remainder of her life, while his other property was inherited by the family of his nieces, Hon. Merolina Jermyn, Lady Spring, wife of [[Sir Thomas Spring, 3rd Baronet]], and Hon. Mary Jermyn, Lady Davers, wife of [[Sir Robert Davers, 2nd Baronet]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Harvey |first=William |author-link= |date=1868 |title=The Visitation of Suffolke (Volume 2) |url= |location= |publisher=S. Tymms |page=185 |isbn=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol10/pp46-49 |title=Cheveley: Manors and estate |last1=Wareham |first1=A. F. |last2=Wright |first2=A. P. M. |date=2002 |website=British History Online |publisher= |access-date=24 August 2023 |quote=Jermyn (cr. Lord Dover 1685, succeeded as Lord Jermyn 1703) died in 1708, leaving Cheveley for life to his widow Judith (d. 1726), then to his great-nephew Sir Jermyn Davers, Bt., who sold it in 1732 to Charles Seymour, duke of Somerset.}}</ref>
Despite legally remaining an outlaw, in 1698 the king granted him a special licence to remain in England.<ref name="ODNB"/> Dover spent the rest of his life living quietly at his London townhouse or at his country estate at Cheveley Park. He succeeded his brother Thomas as '''3rd Baron Jermyn''' in 1703 and was able to live off his inheritance. He died at Cheveley on 6 April 1708.<ref name="Ruvigny"/> In accordance with his will, his body was moved to the English Convent and Friary of the [[Discalced Carmelites]] in Bruges, where he was buried in an elaborate Catholic ceremony on 24 May 1708.<ref name="Ruvigny"/> As he left no children by his wife, Judith, his titles became extinct at his death.<ref name="EB1911"/> Cheveley was left to his wife for the remainder of her life, while his other property was inherited by the family of his nieces, Hon. Merolina Jermyn, Lady Spring, wife of [[Sir Thomas Spring, 3rd Baronet]], and Hon. Mary Jermyn, Lady Davers, wife of [[Sir Robert Davers, 2nd Baronet]] (an ancestor of [[Frederick Hervey, 1st Marquess of Bristol]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Harvey |first=William |author-link= |date=1868 |title=The Visitation of Suffolke (Volume 2) |url= |location= |publisher=S. Tymms |page=185 |isbn=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol10/pp46-49 |title=Cheveley: Manors and estate |last1=Wareham |first1=A. F. |last2=Wright |first2=A. P. M. |date=2002 |website=British History Online |publisher= |access-date=24 August 2023 |quote=Jermyn (cr. Lord Dover 1685, succeeded as Lord Jermyn 1703) died in 1708, leaving Cheveley for life to his widow Judith (d. 1726), then to his great-nephew Sir Jermyn Davers, Bt., who sold it in 1732 to Charles Seymour, duke of Somerset.}}</ref>


[[Dover Street]] in London's [[Mayfair]] was named after Lord Dover after he participated in a development syndicate led by [[Sir Thomas Bond, 1st Baronet]] in 1683.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The London Encyclopaedia|date=1993|publisher=PaperMac|last1=Weinreb|first1=Ben|last2=Hibbert|first2=Christopher|isbn=0333576888|edition= Rev.|location=London|oclc=28963301|page=241}}</ref>
[[Dover Street]] in London's [[Mayfair]] was named after Lord Dover after he participated in a development syndicate led by [[Sir Thomas Bond, 1st Baronet]] in 1683.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The London Encyclopaedia|date=1993|publisher=PaperMac|last1=Weinreb|first1=Ben|last2=Hibbert|first2=Christopher|isbn=0333576888|edition= Rev.|location=London|oclc=28963301|page=241}}</ref>
Line 97: Line 108:
[[Category:English generals]]
[[Category:English generals]]
[[Category:English Jacobites]]
[[Category:English Jacobites]]
[[Category:Lord-Lieutenants of Cambridgeshire]]
[[Category:Lord-lieutenants of Cambridgeshire]]
[[Category:Jacobite military personnel of the Williamite War in Ireland|Jermyn]]
[[Category:Jacobite military personnel of the Williamite War in Ireland|Jermyn]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of England]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of England]]

Latest revision as of 03:02, 2 September 2024

The Right Honourable

The Lord Dover

PC
Henry Jermyn, 1st Baron Dover
Bornc.1636
Rushbrooke Hall, Suffolk
Died6 April 1708
Cheveley, Cambridgeshire
Buried
Bruges, Belgium
Allegiance English Royalists (before 1660)
 England (1660–1688)
Jacobites (1688–1690)
CommandsLieutenant-General of the Royal Guard
Battles/warsWilliamite War in Ireland
Spouse(s)Judith Poley (m.1675)
RelationsThomas Jermyn (father)
Lord Jermyn (brother)
Lord St Albans (uncle)

Henry Jermyn, 3rd Baron Jermyn and 1st Baron Dover, 1st Jacobite Earl of Dover PC (c. 1636 – 6 April 1708) was an English courtier, peer and favourite of James II.[1]

Jermyn was born into a Royalist gentry family shortly before the English Civil War. During the exile of the royal family and after the Stuart Restoration in 1660, he was a member of the court of Charles II of England thanks to the influence of his powerful uncle, Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans. At court he surpassed his uncle in reputation for profligacy and was the sometime lover of Anne Hyde, Lady Castlemaine, Lady Shrewsbury and Frances Jennings.[2][3]

A convert to Roman Catholicism, he was a childhood friend of James, Duke of York and received many honours upon James' accession to the throne in 1685. He remained loyal to James after the Glorious Revolution in 1688 and fought as a Jacobite during the Williamite War in Ireland, but in 1690 he pledged his loyalty to William and Mary. He was referred to in the Memoirs of the Count de Grammont as "Little Jermyn" and "the favoured of Venus and the desperate duellist".[4][5]

Early life and family

[edit]

Jermyn was the second son of Thomas Jermyn, of Rushbrooke, Suffolk, who died in 1659, and his wife Rebecca Rodway, who married secondly Henry Brouncker, 3rd Viscount Brouncker.[2] Throughout Jermyn's childhood his family, who owned large estates in Suffolk, were ardently loyal to the House of Stuart. Jermyn's father, an equerry to Charles I, supported the king during the Civil War and spent a period in exile during the Commonwealth of England. His grandfather, Thomas Jermyn, had served as Comptroller of the Household to Charles I, while Jermyn's uncle, Lord St Albans, was a close associate of Henrietta Maria of France during her period of refuge in France from 1644.[6] Jermyn was raised as a Protestant within the established Church of England.[7]

Courtier under Charles II

[edit]

Jermyn joined his father in exile from England after 1645. Lord St Albans, who was secretary to the Queen Dowager until her death in 1669, obtained places at the exiled royal court for his nephews, Jermyn and his elder brother Thomas. Jermyn was given a position as a page in the household of James, Duke of York, despite the strong disapproval of Charles II.[2] The prince and Jermyn became firm friends. By the mid-1650s, Jermyn had gained a reputation for promiscuity and profligacy. He was also a life-long gambler. Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote that by 1685, Jermyn had "been distinguished more than twenty years before by his vagrant amours and desperate duels".[3]

Jermyn's influential uncle, the Royalist courtier Lord St Albans

According to rumour, his most notable conquest was Charles's widowed sister Mary of Orange, whom he met several times during the period of exile, and there were even stories that they were secretly married.[8] Historians generally discount these rumours, but Charles II took them seriously, and reprimanded his sister for her lack of discretion, but with no effect: Mary sharply reminded her brother that his own love affairs hardly entitled him to judge her moral conduct. Charles was especially angry because of the similar rumours that Jermyn's uncle Lord St Albans had secretly married the Queen Dowager.[2] As John Phillipps Kenyon remarked, "to have one Jermyn as an in-law would have been bad enough; to have two would be intolerable". At this time, Jermyn also had a relationship with Anne Hyde, who was serving as a maid of honour to Mary in Breda.[9]

Jermyn was a young man, aged 24, at the time of the restoration of Charles to the throne in 1660. James appointed him his master of horse and he rode in the royal retinue at Charles' coronation on 22 April 1661. The restoration, however, did not lead to a change in Jermyn's rakish behaviour. In a notorious duel with Colonel Thomas Howard, (younger brother of Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle), in August 1662, which Samuel Pepys refers to in his diary, Jermyn was left for dead.[10] He recovered, but his second Giles Rawlings was killed by Howard's second Colonel Carey Dillon, later the 5th Earl of Roscommon. The cause of the dispute is said to have been the rivalry between Jermyn and Howard for the affections of Lady Shrewsbury, who was notorious for the number of her lovers.[2]

Elizabeth, Countess de Gramont reportedly resisted Jermyn's attempts to seduce her.[11] Having previously offended the king by courting his sister Mary, Jermyn proceeded to give further offence by having an affair with Lady Castlemaine, by then the chief royal mistress, and he was banished from court for six months.[2][12][13] In 1667, Pepys recorded that King Charles was jealous of Jermyn because Lady Castlemaine was in love with him, and that she was furious with Jermyn because he was allegedly planning to marry Mary, Countess of Falmouth and Dorset (another of Charles' mistresses).[1]

Jermyn's uncle was made Lord Chamberlain in 1672, which seemed to assure his position at court.[6] However, at some point in the early 1670s, Jermyn converted to Roman Catholicism.[7][14] As a result, following the passing of the Test Act 1673, Jermyn was forced to resign his position in James' household and was granted a conciliatory pension of £500.[1]

In 1674, he purchased the manor and estate of Cheveley, near Newmarket. By 1681, Jermyn had rebuilt the house and commissioned Jan Siberechts to decorate much of the interior. The principle rooms of the house were filled with fine paintings, including one by Rubens, and portraits of members of the royal family. He also had a Catholic chapel constructed at the house.[15]

On 17 April 1675 he married Judith Poley (1654–1726), daughter of Sir Edmund Poley of Badley, Suffolk. The couple did not have any children.[2]

Favourite of James II

[edit]
James II, with whom Jermyn was closely associated between the 1640s and 1690

Upon the accession of the Duke of York to the throne as James II on 6 February 1685, Jermyn remained one of his closest friends and advisors. Jermyn was the first of James' associates to be raised to the Peerage of England when, on 13 May 1685, he was made Baron Dover in the county of Kent.[16][17] The new Lord Dover was able to return to court, where he became an ally of the Earl of Castlemaine, Ignatius White and the Earl of Tyrconnell. This group collectively influenced James to stay true to his Catholic faith in the face of growing criticism from parliament.[18]

In May 1686, James created a troop in the Life Guards (4th Troop) specifically for Catholics and made Lord Dover its colonel.[19][20] The same year James appointed him Lieutenant-General of the Royal Guard.[2][21] However, rather than create a new corps of English Catholic army officers loyal to James, to help cover his gambling debts Dover sold half of the available commissions to refugee Huguenot gentlemen.[22] On 17 August 1686, Dover was one of the first Catholics to be admitted to the Privy Council of England since the reign of Mary I.[16] Shortly afterwards he was given the position of Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire; the first Catholic to be appointed a lord lieutenant.[1]

On 4 January 1687 Dover was appointed a Commissioner of the Treasury to serve alongside Stephen Fox, Lord Godolphin and Lord Belasyse. However, the appointment of a known gambler ("a man of notorious incompetence"[23]) to the role was met with some ridicule.[24][25] In 1688 he was made High Steward of Kingston upon Hull. Despite his debauched private life, as a politician, he was at times a moderating influence on the king. He strongly advised James against repealing the Act of Settlement 1662.[26] While his loyalty was never in question at this stage, he was not afraid to speak his mind to James, or to disagree with him in public.[2]

Revolution and war in Ireland

[edit]
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 precipitated a dramatic reversal in Lord Dover's fortunes

At the Glorious Revolution in 1688, Dover remained loyal to James, who appointed him Governor of Portsmouth in November 1688. Dover followed James into exile in France, his house at Cheveley Park having been attacked by a Protestant mob.[1] He landed at Calais on 20 January 1689 with Lady Dover and George Douglas, 1st Earl of Dumbarton.[27] Dover accompanied James when he landed in Ireland in March 1689 to reclaim the throne. On 20 June 1689 he was attainted by the English government. In July 1689 the deposed sovereign created him Baron Jermyn of Royston, Baron Ipswich, Viscount Cheveley and Earl of Dover in the Jacobite Peerage.[16] These titles were not recognised by the English government, although Dover became generally known as the Earl of Dover. During the conflict, James despatched Dover on missions to Dublin, and on one occasion to France to petition Louis XIV for greater French assistance.[1] A lieutenant-general in James' Jacobite army and commander of the Gards du Corps, Dover assured the Marquis de Louvois that the war in Ireland could be won with French support.[28]

Dover subsequently found himself increasingly unpopular with both James' Irish and French supporters. Having been appointed Intendant-General at Cork, he quarrelled with his former friend, the Duke of Lauzun, and James threw blame at Dover for the poor reception of French reinforcements which landed in Ireland in March 1690. When the French troops arrived in Dublin, Lauzun made a formal complaint to James about Dover. The French Marquis de Sourches expressed that Lord Dover should have been executed as a traitor for his "inexcusable incompetence and neglect of duty".[29]

His friendship with James over, Dover resigned in June 1690 and recommended that James should make peace with William III and join the alliance against France. This only served to worsen the relationship between Dover and the deposed king. Dover petitioned Tyrconnell for a passport to leave Ireland, but Tyrconnell refused.[1] Dover went to Waterford and eventually managed to procure passage out of Ireland. He fled to Bruges where he lived in poverty for a time, before deciding to return to England and make his submission to William III in September 1691; he "threw himself at William's feat, promised to live peaceably, and was graciously reassured that he had nothing to fear". In November he was granted a pardon by the king. Nonetheless, in February 1692 the House of Commons of England voted by 119 votes to 112 against a clause proposed by Viscount Savage that Dover's attainder should be overturned.[30]

Later life

[edit]

Despite legally remaining an outlaw, in 1698 the king granted him a special licence to remain in England.[1] Dover spent the rest of his life living quietly at his London townhouse or at his country estate at Cheveley Park. He succeeded his brother Thomas as 3rd Baron Jermyn in 1703 and was able to live off his inheritance. He died at Cheveley on 6 April 1708.[16] In accordance with his will, his body was moved to the English Convent and Friary of the Discalced Carmelites in Bruges, where he was buried in an elaborate Catholic ceremony on 24 May 1708.[16] As he left no children by his wife, Judith, his titles became extinct at his death.[2] Cheveley was left to his wife for the remainder of her life, while his other property was inherited by the family of his nieces, Hon. Merolina Jermyn, Lady Spring, wife of Sir Thomas Spring, 3rd Baronet, and Hon. Mary Jermyn, Lady Davers, wife of Sir Robert Davers, 2nd Baronet (an ancestor of Frederick Hervey, 1st Marquess of Bristol).[31][32]

Dover Street in London's Mayfair was named after Lord Dover after he participated in a development syndicate led by Sir Thomas Bond, 1st Baronet in 1683.[33]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Jermyn, Henry, third Baron Jermyn and Jacobite earl of Dover". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14781. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dover, Henry Jermyn, Earl of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 453. This cites:
  3. ^ a b Macaulay, Thomas Babington (1849). The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2). Longman & Company. p. 47.
  4. ^ Hamilton (Count), Anthony (1902). Memoirs of the Count de Grammont. Great Britain: Unit Library. p. 93.
  5. ^ Ellis, George-James (1829). The Ellis Correspondence. Henry Colburn. p. 65.
  6. ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "St Albans, Henry Jermyn, Earl of" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  7. ^ a b Young, Francis (2006). "'An Horrid Popish Plot': The Failure of the Catholic Aspirations in Bury St Edmunds 1685–88" (PDF). Suffolk Institute of Archaeology & History. 41: 210. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  8. ^ Goodwin, Gordon (1893). "Mary (1631-1660)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 36. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 402. Unfounded rumours of a liaison with Henry Jermyn, first baron Dover [q. v.], were at one time in circulation.
  9. ^ Ward, Adolphus William (1891). "Hyde, Anne" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 28. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 367.
  10. ^ Pepys, Samuel (19 August 1662). "Tuesday 19 August 1662". pepysdiary.com. Retrieved 23 August 2023. By and by to sit at the office; and Mr. Coventry did tell us of the duell between Mr. Jermyn, nephew to my Lord St. Albans, and Colonel Giles Rawlins, the latter of whom is killed, and the first mortally wounded, as it is thought. They fought against Captain Thomas Howard, my Lord Carlisle's brother, and another unknown; who, they say, had armour on that they could not be hurt, so that one of their swords went up to the hilt against it. They had horses ready, and are fled. But what is most strange, Howard sent one challenge, but they could not meet, and then another, and did meet yesterday at the old Pall Mall at St. James's, and would not to the last tell Jermyn what the quarrel was; nor do any body know. The Court is much concerned in this fray, and I am glad of it; hoping that it will cause some good laws against it.
  11. ^ Melville, Lewis (1928). "Chapter V - Elizabeth, Countess de Grammont". The Windsor Beauties. London: Hutchinson. p. 112. OCLC 2991434. Miss Hamilton could and did resist the advances of the almost irresistible Henry Jermyn, famous for his conquests.
  12. ^ Keating, Erin (2015). "In the Bedroom of the King: Affective Politics in the Restoration Secret History". Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies. 15 (2): 72. doi:10.1353/jem.2015.0013. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  13. ^ Uglow, Jenny (2009). A Gambling Man: Charles II and the Restoration. Faber & Faber. p. 453. ISBN 9780571255535.
  14. ^ Hervey, S (1903). Rushbrook Parish Registers 1567 to 1850 with Jermyn and Davers Annals. Woodbridge. p. 318.
  15. ^ Wareham, A. F.; Wright, A. P. M. (2002). "Cheveley: Manors and estate". British History Online. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  16. ^ a b c d e Ruvigny, Marquis de (1902). The Jacobite Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Grants of Honour. T. C. & E. C. Jack. p. 43.
  17. ^ Dugdale, William (1812). The Antient Usage in Bearing of Arms. Samuel Bagster. p. 407.
  18. ^ Macaulay, Thomas Babington (1849). The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2). Longman & Company. pp. 50–51.
  19. ^ White-Spunner, Barney (2006). Horse Guards. Pan Macmillan. pp. 98–99. ISBN 978-1-4050-5574-1.
  20. ^ Carman, William Y. (1988). "Richard Gifford of the 4th Troop of Horse Guards". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 66 (265): 2. JSTOR 44229750. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  21. ^ Macaulay, Thomas Babington (1849). The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2). Longman & Company. p. 66.
  22. ^ Webb, Stephen Saunders (1995). Lord Churchill's Coup: The Anglo–American Empire and the Glorious Revolution Reconsidered. Syracuse. p. 108.
  23. ^ Boyer, Richard E. (1964). "English Declarations of Indulgence of 1687 and 1688". The Catholic Historical Review. 50 (3): 339. JSTOR 25017471. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  24. ^ Banks, Thomas Christopher (1809). The Dormant and Extinct Baronage of England (Volume 3). J. White. p. 259.
  25. ^ Macaulay, Thomas Babington (1849). The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2). Longman & Company. p. 158.
  26. ^ Macaulay, Thomas Babington (1849). The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2). Longman & Company. p. 144.
  27. ^ Kavanagh Boulger, Demetrius Charles de (1911). The Battle of the Boyne (PDF). London: Martin Becker. p. 17.
  28. ^ "JERMYN, Henry, VISCOUNT DOVER (d1708). Lt.-General. Colonel, Gards du Corps". Officers of the Jacobite Armies. Centre for Robert Burns Studies, University of Glasgow. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  29. ^ Kavanagh Boulger, Demetrius Charles de (1911). The Battle of the Boyne (PDF). London: Martin Becker. p. 78.
  30. ^ Macaulay, Thomas Babington (1849). The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (Volume 2). Longman & Company. p. 350.
  31. ^ Harvey, William (1868). The Visitation of Suffolke (Volume 2). S. Tymms. p. 185.
  32. ^ Wareham, A. F.; Wright, A. P. M. (2002). "Cheveley: Manors and estate". British History Online. Retrieved 24 August 2023. Jermyn (cr. Lord Dover 1685, succeeded as Lord Jermyn 1703) died in 1708, leaving Cheveley for life to his widow Judith (d. 1726), then to his great-nephew Sir Jermyn Davers, Bt., who sold it in 1732 to Charles Seymour, duke of Somerset.
  33. ^ Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher (1993). The London Encyclopaedia (Rev. ed.). London: PaperMac. p. 241. ISBN 0333576888. OCLC 28963301.
Honorary titles
Vacant
Title last held by
The Earl of Ailesbury 		Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire
1686–1688 		Succeeded by
Peerage of England
Preceded by Baron Jermyn of St Edmundsbury
1703–1708 		Extinct
New title Baron Dover
1685–1708
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_Jermyn,_1st_Baron_Dover&oldid=1243554961"