Charles Coxe (c. 1661–17 October 1728), of

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and Rodmarton and Lower

Lypiatt Lypiatt is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Miserden, in the Stroud district, in Gloucestershire, England, approximately east of Stroud. The parish was formed from Stroud in 1894, later in 1894 the parish was abolis ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, was an English lawyer and Tory politician who sat in the

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and

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between 1698 and 1722.

Early life and family

Coxe was the second son of John Coxe of Tarlton, Gloucestershire and his wife Deborah Driver, daughter of John Driver of Avening, Gloucestershire. He matriculated at

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on 10 July 1674, at the age of 13. He then entered

in 1677 to study law and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1684. In 1692, he succeeded to his father's estates. He married Catherine Chamberlain, the daughter and heiress of John Chamberlain of Wainborough, Wiltshire and his wife Ann Freame, daughter of Thomas Freame of Lower Lypiatt, on 15 February 1693. He thereby acquired the manor of Nether Lypiatt in 1699. As a lawyer Coxe was Clerk of the Letters Patent from 1699 to his death and serjeant-at-law from 1700.

Career

In 1698, Coxe was returned as

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for Cirencester. He was returned unopposed at the first general election of 1701. Subsequently, he was blacklisted for opposing preparations for war. Returned again at the second general election of 1701 he was classified as a Tory. He had a close friendship with Harley through which he was appointed a puisne justice in June 1702 among the Tory appointments that followed the accession of Queen Anne. He was returned unopposed for Cirencester at the 1702 general election. In 1704 he was promoted to chief justice of Brecknock on the South Wales circuit through Harley's influence. At the 1705 general election Coxe was involved in a double return at Cirencester with Henry Ireton. He petitioned but then withdrew on 15 November, leaving Ireton to be declared duly elected. It was claimed that he did so to avoid a scrutiny by the House of the bribery that been practised by both sides, which would have damaged his position as a judge. Coxe recovered his seat at Cirencester at the

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, but his election was declared void on 10 December 1709. He was successfully returned in the subsequent by-election on 23 December 1709. At the

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he was returned again for Cirencester. His former partner at Cirencester, Allen Bathurst, was raised to the peerage in 1712. At the

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Bathurst asked Coxe to make way for one of his brothers at Cirenccester, while the other seat was taken by Thomas Master. Coxe was forced to transfer to

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

where Thomas Webb, one of the sitting Members, was persuaded to give up his seat, and Coxe was elected as MP for the constituency. With the change of regime in 1714 Coxe was dismissed from his post as judge, but was returned again as MP for Gloucester at the

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. He voted consistently against the government. He did not stand at the 1722 general election.

Death and legacy

Coxe built the present house of Nether Lypiatt manor in 1717. The house is now

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. He died on 17 October 1728 and was buried at Rodmarton. He and his wife had four sons and two daughters. He left the house at Lower Lypiatt and his estate at Tarlton to his son John, while he left his three manors and various other lands near Cirencester and Stroud to his grandson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coxe, Charles 1661 births 1728 deaths People from Gloucestershire Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn People from Cotswold District English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 Politicians from Gloucestershire People from Stroud District