Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot, (168514 February 1737) was a British lawyer and politician. He was Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain from 1733 to 1737.

Life

Talbot was the eldest son of William Talbot,

Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...

, a descendant of the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. He was educated at Eton and

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, w ...

, and became a fellow of

All Souls College All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

in 1704. He 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 t ...

in 1711, and in 1717 was appointed solicitor general to the

prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the ruler ...

. Having been elected a member of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

in 1720, he became Solicitor General in 1726, and in 1733 he was made Lord Chancellor and raised to the peerage with the title of Lord Talbot, Baron of Hensol, in the County of Glamorgan. Talbot proved himself a capable equity judge during the three years of his occupancy of the

Woolsack The Woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords, the Upper House of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Before 2006, it was the seat of the Lord Chancellor. History In the 14th century King Edward III (1327–1377) sai ...

. Among his contemporaries he enjoyed the reputation of a wit; he was a patron of the poet James Thomson, who in '' The Seasons'' commemorated a son of his to whom he acted as tutor;

Joseph Butler Joseph Butler (18 May O.S. 1692 – 16 June O.S. 1752) was an English Anglican bishop, theologian, apologist, and philosopher, born in Wantage in the English county of Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire). He is known for critiques of Deism, Tho ...

dedicated his famous ''Analogy'' to Talbot, as was

Upton Upton may refer to: Places United Kingdom England * Upton, Slough, Berkshire (in Buckinghamshire until 1974) * Upton, Buckinghamshire, a hamlet near Aylesbury * Upton, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough * Upton, Huntingdonshire, a location in Cambrid ...

's edition of

Epictetus Epictetus (; grc-gre, Ἐπίκτητος, ''Epíktētos''; 50 135 AD) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was born into slavery at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present-day Pamukkale, in western Turkey) and lived in Rome until his banishment, wh ...

. The title he assumed derived from the Hensol estate in

Pendoylan Pendoylan ( cy, Pendeulwyn meaning 'head of two groves') is a rural village and community (parish) in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The village has won many awards in Best Kept Village competitions and contains 27 entries in the Council's Count ...

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

, which came to him through his wife. After an illness during which the King and Queen enquired after his health every day, Talbot died on 14February 1737 at his home in

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in devel ...

. Talbot is remembered as one of the authors of the

Yorke–Talbot slavery opinion The Yorke–Talbot slavery opinion was a legal opinion issued by two Crown law officers in 1729 relating to the legality of slavery under English law. Background The opinion was sought by slave merchants after certain judicial decisions by Lor ...

, as a crown law officer in 1729. The opinion was sought to determinate the legality of slavery: Talbot and Philip Yorke opined that it was legal. The opinion was relied upon widely before the decision of

Lord Mansfield William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, PC, SL (2 March 170520 March 1793) was a British barrister, politician and judge noted for his reform of English law. Born to Scottish nobility, he was educated in Perth, Scotland, before moving to Lond ...

Somersett's Case ''Somerset v Stewart'' (177298 ER 499(also known as ''Somersett's case'', ''v. XX Sommersett v Steuart and the Mansfield Judgment)'' is a judgment of the English Court of King's Bench in 1772, relating to the right of an enslaved person on E ...

Family

Tomb_of_Cecil_Talbot_in_the_churchyard_of_St_Nicholas

Talbot married, in the summer of 1708, Cecil Mathew (died 1720), daughter of Charles Mathew of Castell y Mynach,

Glamorganshire , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

, and granddaughter and heiress of David Jenkins of Hensol. There he built a mansion in the Tudor style, known as the Castle. They had five sons, of whom three survived him: *

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

(died 22 Sep 1756) *

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

(16 May 171027 Apr 1782) *Rev. George (died 19 November 1782), who married Anne Bouverie, daughter of Jacob Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone. They had four children, but only their sons lived to adulthood one of which was the Ver. Rev. Charles Talbot. He was succeeded in the title by his second son, William (1710–1782).

References

* * * * Lord Campbell, ''Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal'' (8 vols. London, 1845–69) * Edward Foss, ''The Judges of England'' (9 vols. London, 1848–64) * Lord Hervey, ''Memoirs of the Reign of George II'' ( 2 vols. London. 1848) * G. E. Cokayne, ''Complete Peerage'', vol. vii. (London, 1896)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Lord chancellors of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for City of Durham Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford People educated at Eton College Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Peers of Great Britain created by George II 1685 births 1737 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Tregony British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

Barons Talbot