Bennet Sherard, 2nd Baron Sherard DL (''baptised'' 30 November 1621 – 15 January 1700) was a British politician and Irish peer. An influential landowner in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

and

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

, he was returned to Parliament by the former county from 1679 through 1695, although his Parliamentary activity was minimal. He entered Parliament as a supporter of the

Exclusion Bill The Exclusion Crisis ran from 1679 until 1681 in the reign of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. Three Exclusion Bills sought to exclude the King's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the thrones of England, S ...

, and was one of the Whigs purged from county offices in 1688 over James' policy of religious tolerance. He supported James' overthrow in the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

, and was appointed

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...

and Custos Rotulorum of Rutland, offices he held until his death in 1700.

Early life and family

Baptised on 30 November 1621, Sherard was the eldest son of William Sherard, 1st Baron Sherard, and his wife Abigail Cave. He was educated at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

in 1639, succeeded his father in his (Irish) barony in 1640, and took a Grand Tour in Italy from 1641 to 1644, where he was enrolled at the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

in 1642. While he never took the oaths, he did occupy local office during the

Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...

, serving as a commissioner for assessment in Rutland and as justice of the peace for

in 1656. Appointed a commissioner for militia in Leicestershire in March 1660, he continued in local office after the restoration, being appointed to the

bench in July and a commissioner of assessment for both counties in August, serving on the latter until 1680.

Political career

Sherard continued to hold a variety of local offices after the Restoration. He was a commissioner of

oyer and terminer In English law, oyer and terminer (; a partial translation of the Anglo-French , which literally means 'to hear and to determine') was one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat. Apart from its Law French name, the commission was also ...

for the Midland circuit in 1662, and was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Leicestershire in 1667. He received additional appointments in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

in 1670, as deputy lieutenant and justice of the piece for the

Parts of Lindsey The Parts of Lindsey are a traditional division of Lincolnshire, England, covering the northern part of the county. The Isle of Axholme, which is on the west side of the River Trent, has normally formed part of it. The district's name origina ...

, although he had resigned both of these posts by 1680. He became a deputy lieutenant of Rutland in 1671, and served as a commissioner for

recusant Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

s in Leicestershire in 1675. He first stood for Parliament as a candidate for

in the March 1679 English general election, alongside Lord Roos, one of the incumbent MPs. Roos was a lukewarm court supporter, while Sherard's sympathies were unclear. The joint candidacy had met with the approval of a Leicestershire gentry meeting, which would normally have settled the matter. However, the controversy over the

led Sir John Hartopp, 3rd Baronet, a zealous Whig, to stand for the county as well. During the polling at

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, close to the border with Northamptonshire. The population was 24,779 at the United Kingdom census, 2021, 2021 census. It is the ad ...

, rioting broke out; Roos and Sherard were returned by a large margin, but Hartopp lodged an

election petition An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

against the result, alleging malpractice by the Sheriff. Sherard's election was admitted, but that of Roos voided; he was granted a peerage and moved to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, while Hartopp was returned at the ensuing April by-election. Sherard would continuously represent the county through 1695. He did prove to be a Whig as well, voting in favor of Exclusion. He showed his greatest Parliamentary activity in 1680, serving on committees considering bills pertaining to trade and election abuses. No activity for hm is known during the Oxford Parliament in 1681, and in 1685 was involved with a naturalization bill and economic proposals. In general, he played little role in Parliament, but obviously enjoyed the respect of his fellow gentry in Leicestershire. He was noted as an influential member of the opposition to James II in 1687. During that year, a personal quarrel broke out between Sherard and John Noel at a race meeting, in which Sherard resorted to violence and proposed a duel. The turmoil raised by the event among the Leicestershire gentry was such that the

Earl of Sunderland Earl of Sunderland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1627 in favour of Emanuel Scrope, 11th Baron Scrope of Bolton. The earldom became extinct upon his death in 1630, while the barony be ...

instructed the

Earl of Huntingdon Earl of Huntingdon is a title which has been created several times in the Peerage of England. The medieval title (1065 creation) was associated with the ruling house of Scotland ( David of Scotland). The seventh and most recent creation dates t ...

, the

Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire. Since 1703, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Leicestershire. Lord Lieutenants * Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset 1549–1551 * Francis Hasti ...

to compose it. Noel's uncle Charles Bertie, reflecting on the prospects of a duel, sourly dismissed Sherard as "an old passionate coxcomb who is lame, crazy and aged", but the difference must have been smoothed up effectively, as Noel would marry Sherard's daughter Elizabeth in 1696. In early 1688, Sherard was dismissed from the bench and deputy lieutenancy in Leicestershire by Huntingdon, for his negative answers to the "Three Questions". He was likewise dismissed from the deputy lieutenancy of Rutland by the Lord Lieutenant there, the

Earl of Peterborough Earl of Peterborough was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for John Mordaunt, 5th Baron Mordaunt (see Baron Mordaunt for earlier history of the family). He was succeeded by his eldest son, Henry, the second Earl. He was ...

. Sherard's deputy lieutenancy was returned in October as James hastily reversed course with the

looming, but Sherard unsurprisingly proved a supporter of William of Orange and turned out the Leicestershire militia on his behalf. Returned to the Convention Parliament, he was moderately active, showing, as an Irish peer, an interest in protecting the Irish protestants and gentry. He was again made a JP for Leicestershire, and served as a commissioner of assessment for Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Rutland until 1690.

Later life

Given his age, it was thought he would stand down at the 1690 election, but was again returned. He showed almost no activity in Parliament, however. When it appeared that the

Earl of Rutland Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

(the former Lord Roos) would give up the lord-lieutenancy of Leicestershire in the summer of 1690, Sherard wrote to the Marquess of Carmarthen offering to take up the post and raise a new regiment of volunteers. In the event, Rutland retained the post, but Sherard was appointed

Lord Lieutenant of Rutland This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Rutland. In 1974 Rutland became part of Leicestershire under the Local Government Act 1972, the Lieutenancy was abolished, with Rutland's Lord-Lieutenant becoming Lord-Lieutenant of Le ...

in August, filling the place left vacant by the dismissal of the Jacobite Peterborough, and Custos Rotulorum of Rutland. Sherard at last left Parliament in 1695.

Personal life

On 8 March 1661, he married Elizabeth Christopher (d. 1713), by whom he had two sons and four daughters (of whom one son and two daughters survived him), including: * Hon. Christopher Sherard (1666–1681/2), who died of a fever while at Oxford. * Bennet Sherard, 1st Earl of Harborough (1677–1732), who married Mary Calverley, the daughter and co-heiress of Sir Henry Calverley of Eryholme. * Hon. Elizabeth Sherard (1679–1746/7), who married first Edward Ingram, 2nd Viscount of Irvine and second John Noel. * Hon. Lucy Sherard (–1751), who married

John Manners, 2nd Duke of Rutland John Manners, 2nd Duke of Rutland Order of the Garter, KG (18 September 1676 – 22 February 1721), styled Lord Roos from 1679 to 1703 and Marquess of Granby from 1703 to 1711, was a British Whig politician who sat in the English House of Com ...

. Sherard shared his mother's taste for art, and was a patron of various minor composers and painters. He died on 15 January 1700 and was buried at

Stapleford, Leicestershire Stapleford is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Freeby, in the Melton district of Leicestershire, England, east of Melton Mowbray. It is just south of the River Eye. In 1931 the parish had a population of 145. On 1 April ...

. He was succeeded by his only surviving son, Bennet Sherard, later created

Earl of Harborough Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

References

External links

Bennet Sherard, 2nd Baron Sherard
at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherard, Bennet, 2nd Baron Sherard 1621 births 1700 deaths

Bennet Sherard, 2nd Baron Sherard Bennet Sherard, 2nd Baron Sherard Deputy Lieutenant, DL (''baptised'' 30 November 1621 – 15 January 1700) was a British politician and Irish peer. An influential landowner in Leicestershire and Rutland, he was returned to Parliament by the form ...

Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Deputy lieutenants of Leicestershire Deputy lieutenants of Lincolnshire Deputy lieutenants of Rutland Lord-lieutenants of Rutland English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1685–1687 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695