Sir Anthony Weldon (1583–1648) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

17th-century courtier and politician. He is also the purported author of ''The Court and Character of King James I'', although this attribution has been challenged.

Relations with King James

The story of Weldon's dismissal from King James' court for his negative assessment of the Scots in ''A Description of Scotland'', is usually taken as the justification for the criticism of James in ''The Court and Character of King James I'', which contains the famous comment that James was "the wisest fool in Christendom". However, it is unclear whether Weldon was the author of either of these works. ''A Description of Scotland'' was first published six years before Weldon's dismissal from the court and was not credited to him until the second half of the 17th century. Likewise ''The Court and Character of King James I'' was not credited to Weldon until after his death in 1648. He did, however, support

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during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

, holding and administering the county of

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Role in the English Civil War

In 1643 Weldon became chairman of the Kent County Committee, which was the Parliamentary government of the county. As such Weldon was a very powerful man, kind to his friends but a bitter enemy to those who crossed him. Weldon was fearless against both Royalist and Parliamentarian officials in London who tried to squeeze the Kentish economy for their own purposes. An ardent Parliamentarian, Weldon informed on the Rector of

Swanscombe Swanscombe Help:IPA/English, /ˈswɒnzkəm/ is a village in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is 4.4 miles west of Gravesend and 4.8 miles east of Dartford. History Prehistory B ...

in 1642 whose loyalties were in doubt. When, in 1648, the county rose up against the Parliamentary regime and drew up the County Petition of complaints, Weldon roared that he would not cross

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High Street to save the soul of any person whose name appeared therein. The revolt was serious and

General Fairfax Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 161212 November 1671), also known as Sir Thomas Fairfax, was an English politician, general and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War. An adept and talented command ...

's army was despatched to destroy the Royalists; a process which included the battle at Stonebridge Hill,

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, on 1 June 1648. Weldon was in his sixties and waited in his manor house at Swanscombe for the Royalists to arrest or kill him. He is quoted as saying, "Hourly I waited to be seized, which must cost the seizers, or some of them, their lives, for I shall not be their prisoner to be led in triumph ..." Weldon lived to see Parliamentarian order restored before he died and was buried at Swanscombe on 27 October 1648.

References

*Joseph Marshall and Sean Kelsey, 'Weldon, Sir Anthony (bap. 1583, d. 1648)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 6 July 2007
*Anthony Weldon, Sir?, ''The Court and Character of King James I'', London, 1651 *Swanscombe local history http://swanscombe.com/newsevents/history.asp

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weldon, Anthony 1583 births 1648 deaths 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers People from Swanscombe