James Chaloner (1602–1660) 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 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

on the

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

side in 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 ...

, and

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

at the trial of King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

Biography

Chaloner was born in the parish of

St Olave Silver Street St Olave's Church, Silver Street was a church on the south side of Silver Street, off Wood Street in the Aldersgate ward of the City of London. It was dedicated to St Olaf, a Norwegian Christian ally of the English king Ethelred II. The churc ...

, London, the fourth son of the courtier Sir Thomas Chaloner of

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmark i ...

, Yorkshire, and Elizabeth Fleetwood of London, and grandson of Sir Thomas Chaloner, poet and ambassador of Queen Elizabeth. On 10 April 1648 he became one of the Members of Parliament for Aldborough,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. He was not excluded from Parliament during

Pride's Purge Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England. Despite defeat in the ...

on 20 December 1648 and declared his opposition to the earlier Commons vote accepting Charles I's answers in the

Treaty of Newport The Treaty of Newport was a failed treaty between Parliament and King Charles I of England, intended to bring an end to the hostilities of the English Civil War. Negotiations were conducted between 15 September 1648 and 27 November 1648, at Newpo ...

as grounds for continuing negotiations. In January 1649 he was appointed to sit as a commissioner at the trial of Charles I and sat for a total of six sessions. Unlike his elder brother Thomas Chaloner, he did not sign the royal death warrant. During the

Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...

he was active in the Commonwealth and enjoyed the patronage of Thomas Fairfax, but under

the Protectorate The Protectorate, officially the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, refers to the period from 16 December 1653 to 25 May 1659 during which England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and associated territories were joined together in the Com ...

he played no active part in national politics. In 1655 he fell under suspicion of encouraging Fairfax to join the

Sealed Knot The Sealed Knot was a secret Royalist association which plotted for the Restoration of the Monarchy during the English Interregnum. The group was commissioned by King Charles II between November 1653 and February 1654 from his exile in Paris for ...

uprising in Yorkshire, so to remove him from scrutiny Fairfax found him an appointment as governor of the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. He was still the governor in 1659 when he declared for General

George Monck George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle JP KG PC (6 December 1608 – 3 January 1670) was an English soldier, who fought on both sides during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A prominent military figure under the Commonwealth, his support was cruc ...

during the second Commonwealth. The London faction of the

New Model Army The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Th ...

arrested him, but on 7 December that year, as the London faction's star fell and Monck's rose, the Rump ordered Chaloner's release, and in January 1660 confirmed his governorship of the Isle of Man. He died in July 1660 of a sickness he had contracted during his imprisonment. Before his death he professed his support for the Royalist cause and explained away his part in the

Regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

as an attempt on his part "to keep things from falling into a worse condition". He was most likely buried in the Isle of Man. His explanation was disregarded and he was among those whose property was sequestrated by the state under the "forfeitures not extending to Life" terms of the

Act of Indemnity and Oblivion The Indemnity and Oblivion Act 1660 was an Act of the Parliament of England (12 Cha. II c. 11), the long title of which is "An Act of Free and General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion". This act was a general pardon for everyone who had committe ...

Family

Chaloner married Ursula, daughter of Sir

Philip Fairfax Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

of Steeton; a son and two daughters survived him. His exclusion from the general pardon meant that his family were left unprovided for. Chaloner's daughter Veriana married Thomas Cobbe, General Receiver of County Southampton and Chaloner's grandson

Charles Cobbe Charles Cobbe (1686 in Swarraton – 1765) was Archbishop of Dublin from 1743 to 1765, and as such was Primate of Ireland. Early life Cobbe was the second son of Thomas Cobbe, of Swarraton, Winchester, Receiver General for County Southampt ...

became

Primate of Ireland The Primacy of Ireland was historically disputed between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin until finally settled by Pope Innocent VI. ''Primate'' is a title of honour denoting ceremonial precedence in the Church, and in t ...

.''Clerics & connoisseurs: the Rev. Matthew Pilkington, the Cobbe family..'' Alastair Laing, Nicholas Turner, English Heritage - 2001 "Thomas, through his marriage to Veriana Chaloner (fig.45), acquired a thoroughly Cromwellian family circle."

Bibliography

Notes

References

* * Endnotes ** HoP, Commons, 1690–1715

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrel ...

** JHC, 2–7 (1640–59) ** MSS relating to James Chaloner, British Library, Add MS 71448 ** G. W. Johnson, ed., The Fairfax correspondence: memoirs of the reign of Charles the First, 2 vols. (1848) ** R. Bell, ed., Memorials of the civil war ... forming the concluding volumes of the Fairfax correspondence, 2 vols. (1849) ** J. Chaloner, A short treatise of the Isle of Man, ed. J. G. Cumming, Manx Society, 10 (1864) ** CSP dom., 1636–61 · Seventh report, HMC, 6 (1879), 147 ** J. G. Muddiman, The trial of King Charles the First (1928) ** N. Yorks. CRO, ZFM/alum mines, 1.3, 5 ** Wood, Ath. Oxon., new edn, 3.50–53 ** . Prynne A full declaration of the true state of the secluded members case (1660) homason tract E 1013(22) **

Mercurius Pragmaticus Marchamont Nedham, also Marchmont and Needham (1620 – November 1678), was a journalist, publisher and pamphleteer during the English Civil War who wrote official news and propaganda for both sides of the conflict. A "highly productive propagand ...

(12–19 Dec 1648) homason tract E 476(35)** Heads of a Diarie, collected out of the Journalls of both Houses of Parliament (26 Dec 1648) T E 536 (34)· ** Parliamentary Intelligencer (26 Dec 1659 – 2 Jan 1660) homason tract E 182(16)**Archives: British Library, Add MS 71448; N. Yorks. CRO, MSS, Mic. 2050; N. Yorks. CRO, MSS relating to alum mines, ZFM; British Library, Add MS 18979, fol. 207; Add MS 36792, fols. 13, 57v, 62v, 69, 79v; Bodleian Library, Fairfax MS 32, fol. 179; Bodleian Library, Nalson MS IV, fols. 90, 213, 244v, 317; TNA: PRO, C181/6; E115/104/120; LR2/266, fol. 1; PSO 2/180.

Biography

Family

Bibliography

Notes

References

Further reading