William Blathwayt

William Blathwayt
Portrait by Michael Dahl
Secretary at War
In office August 1683 – 1704
Monarch	James II
Preceded by	Matthew Locke
Succeeded by	George Clarke
Member of Parliament for Bath
In office 1707–1710 Serving with Samuel Trotman
Preceded by	Parliament of England
Succeeded by	Samuel Trotman John Codrington
In office 1693–1707 Serving with Joseph Langton, Sir Thomas Estcourt, Alexander Popham, Samuel Trotman
Preceded by	Sir William Bassett Joseph Langton
Succeeded by	Parliament of Great Britain
Personal details
Born	c. March 1649 St Botolph's, Aldersgate, London
Died	16 August 1717(1717-08-16) (aged 68) Dyrham Park, Dyrham
Spouse	Mary Wynter ​ ​ (m. 1686; died 1691)​
Relations	Justinian Povey (grandfather) Thomas Povey (uncle)
Children	William Blathwayt John Blathwayt Anne Blathwayt Southwell
Parent(s)	William Blathwayt Anne Povey
Alma mater	Brasenose College, Oxford

William Blathwayt (or Blathwayte) (1649 – 16 August 1717) was an English diplomat, public official and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1685 and 1710. He established the War Office as a department of the British Government and played an important part in administering the English (later British) colonies of North America.

Early life

Blathwayt was born at St Botolph's, Aldersgate and baptized in the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields in London on 2 March 1649, the only son of William Blathwayt, barrister, of the Middle Temple, and Anne Povey, daughter of Justinian Povey of Hounslow, Middlesex, who was accountant-general to Queen Anne of Denmark. He was born to a well-to-do family of Protestant merchants and lawyers. After his father's death, his mother remarried Thomas Vivian, of the prominent Cornish family. In 1665 he was admitted at Middle Temple.

Career

Blathwayt joined the diplomatic service in 1668 when his uncle Thomas Povey, an influential London lawyer, found him a post as Clerk of the English embassy at The Hague. He followed this in 1672 with a year as Clerk of Embassy at Copenhagen and Stockholm. From 1672 to 1673 he travelled in Sweden, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France and in the course of his tour, he studied at Padua University.

Blathwayt returned to London in the early 1670s, and was assistant secretary of trade and plantations from 1675 to 1679. He became a Clerk of the Privy Council in Extraordinary in 1678 and in 1679 was promoted to secretary of trade and plantations. Also in 1679, he was considered "as a very fit person" to be assistant to the secretary of the council, being heavily involved in the administration of England's colonies in North America. In 1680, he became the first surveyor and auditor-general of royal revenues in America. He became under-secretary of state (north) in 1681 until he obtained the office of Secretary at War.

Secretary at War

In 1683, he purchased the office of Secretary at War which he held to February 1689. His role as Secretary at War was originally merely the role of secretary to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army but under Blathwayt the remit of the Secretary was greatly expanded to encompass all areas of Army administration. He effectively established the War Office as a department of the government, although he had very little input into the actual conduct of wars. Issues of strategic policy during wartime were managed by the Northern and Southern Departments (the predecessors of today's Foreign Office and Home Office respectively).

Political career

At the 1685 English general election Blathwayt was returned as Member of Parliament for Newtown in the government interest. He was not active in the Parliament, and was appointed to only one committee to examine the disbandment accounts.

In October 1686, Blathwayt became a Clerk of the Privy Council in Ordinary. He became the secretary of the Privy Council's committee on trade and foreign plantations — in effect, colonial under-secretary. It was in this capacity that he became a key figure in American affairs. He was responsible for establishing the charter of the Crown colony of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, the predecessor of the state of Massachusetts. He did much to promote trade in America and benefited considerably from gifts and bribes received in connection with his office (as was the usual practice in his day). His rise was noted by many of his contemporaries; the diarist John Evelyn commended him as "very dexterous in business" and as one who had "raised himself by his industry from very moderate circumstances."

Blathwayt was a witness for the prosecution at the Trial of the Seven Bishops in 1688 and he lost the politically sensitive post as secretary at war after the Glorious Revolution. He was restored to the post in May 1689 and held it to 1704.

Blathwayt was returned as a Whig Member of Parliament for Bath in 1693 and held the seat until 1710. He was appointed Lord of Trade in 1696, holding the post until 1707.

Blathwayt retired to Dyrham in 1710 (his wife had died in 1691), remaining there until his death.

Personal life

Portrait of his wife, Mary Wynter, by Michael Dahl, between c. 1689 and c. 1691

On 23 December 1686, he married Mary Wynter (1650–1691), daughter of John Wynter of Dyrham Park and the former Frances Gerrard. Before her death in 1601, they were the parents of four sons and one daughter, including:

• William Blathwayt (1688–1742), who married Thomasine Ambrose, a daughter of Jonathan Ambrose of London, in 1718.
• John Blathwayt (1690–1754), a talented musician during his time in Italy; after his return to England, he joined the military, became a Colonel and fought at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
• Anne Blathwayt (1691–1717), who married, as his second wife, Edward Southwell Sr., the Principal Secretary of State for Ireland who was a son, and heir, of diplomat Sir Robert Southwell of Kings Weston. Southwell was previously married to Elizabeth Cromwell, 8th Baroness Cromwell, who died in 1709.

Blathwayt died at Durham on 16 August 1717 and was buried in the local churchyard.

Art collection

Dyrham Park

Blathwayt built a large mansion house for himself at Dyrham Park near Bristol, which he decorated with numerous Dutch Old Masters and sumptuous fabrics and furnishings. His descendants sold a large part of his art collection in 1765, but some of the paintings have been purchased back or remain at Dyrham Park. Dyrham Park is today in the care of the National Trust and is open to visitors.

Descendants

Through his son William, he was a grandfather of William Blathwayt (1719–1787), who married three times: to Penelope Jenkinson; Elizabeth Clarke and Mary Creighton of London. Among his numerous descendants were Robert Wynter Blathwayt (1850–1936), who inherited Dyrham Park in 1909 and married Margaret Ermentrude Chandos-Pole-Gell (a daughter of Henry Chandos Pole Gell of Hopton Hall).

He was also the ancestor of Lt. Col. Linley Wynter Blathwayt (1839–1919), the head of a cadet branch of the Blathwayt family who lived at Eagle House in Somerset. He was married to his first cousin, suffragette Emily Blathwayt, and they were the parents of Mary Blathwayt.

Gallery

• 
  Portrait of his son, William, as a child, by Henry Tilson, 1691
• 
  Portrait of his son, William, by Enoch Seeman, between c. 1720 and c. 1729
• 
  Portrait of his son, John, by Enoch Seeman, between c. 1720 and c. 1729
• 
  Portrait of his son, John, by Edward Gouge, 1707
• 
  Portrait of his daughter, Anne, c. 1710–1717
• 
  Portrait of his daughter-in-law, Thomasine Ambrose, between c. 1715 and c. 1720
• 
  Portrait of Penelope Jenkinson, his grandson William Blathwayt's first wife, in the style of William Hoare, between c. 1730 and c. 1755
• 
  Portrait of Elizabeth Clark, his grandson William Blathwayt's second wife by John Astley, between c. 1760 and c. 1780

References

Sources

Attribution

Courtney, William Prideaux (1886). "Blathwayt, William" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 5. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 206.

Further reading

• "The Lords of Trade and Plantations, 1675–1696", Winfred T. Root (American Historical Review 23 (October 1917): 20–41)
• William Blathwayt: a late 17th Century English Administrator, G. A. Jacobsen (New Haven 1932)
• Hutchinson, John (1902). "Blathwayt, William" . A catalogue of notable Middle Templars, with brief biographical notices (1 ed.). Canterbury: the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. p. 23.

External links

• William Blathwayt Papers. The James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
• Chronological Listing of Documents and Events relating to the Massachusetts Mint, Louis Jordan
• Committees of the Privy Council for trade and plantations 1675–96
• The Golden Falcon Chapter XIII/2 – Neptune