John Robinson (7 November 1650 – 11 April 1723) 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 ...
diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
and prelate.
Early life
Robinson was born at
Cleasby
Cleasby is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is close to the River Tees and Darlington and the A1(M). The population at the 2011 Census of ONS was 208.
History
The village is mentioned i ...
,
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
, near
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
, a son of John Robinson (died 1651) a cooper by trade and Elizabeth Potter. Educated at
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...
, he became a fellow of
Oriel College
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, wh ...
, and in about 1680 he became chaplain to the British embassy to
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
. He remained in Sweden for nearly thirty years. During the absence of the minister,
Philip Warwick
Sir Philip Warwick (24 December 160915 January 1683), English writer and politician, born in Westminster, was the son of Thomas Warwick, or Warrick, a musician.
Life
He was educated at Eton, he travelled abroad for some time and in 1636 became ...
, Robinson acted as resident and as envoy extraordinary, and he was thus in Sweden during a very interesting and important period, and was performing diplomatic duties at a time when the affairs of northern Europe were attracting an unusual amount of attention.
[
Among his adventures not the least noteworthy was his journey to ]Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...
with Charles XII
Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of t ...
in 1700.[
]
Career
In 1709 Robinson returned to England, and was appointed Dean of Windsor
The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, England. The dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as ''primus inter pares''. The post of Dean of Wolverhampton was assimilated to the deane ...
and of Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
; in 1710 he was elected bishop of Bristol
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, and among other ecclesiastical positions he held that of Dean of the Chapel Royal
The Dean of the Chapel Royal, in any kingdom, can be the title of an official charged with oversight of that kingdom's chapel royal, the ecclesiastical establishment which is part of the royal household and ministers to it.
England
In England, ...
. In August 1711 he became Lord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...
, this being, says Lord Stanhope, "the last time that a bishop has been called upon to fill a political office."[ Echoing his Scandinavian connections, the motto on his coat of arms is written in runic characters.
In 1712 the bishop represented Great Britain at the important congress of Utrecht, and as first plenipotentiary he signed the ]treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...
in April 1713 that ended the War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
. Just after his return to England he was chosen Bishop of London
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
in succession to Henry Compton.[
In 1718 he fostered a plan for the union of the English and Swedish churches, supported by Count Gyllenberg, Swedish Ambassador to London. The plan fell through because of the opposition of most Swedish bishops, although ]Svedberg
A Svedberg unit or svedberg (symbol S, sometimes Sv) is a non- SI metric unit for sedimentation coefficients. The Svedberg unit offers a measure of a particle's size indirectly based on its sedimentation rate under acceleration (i.e. how fast a p ...
of Skara and Gezelius, Bishop of Turku (Finland) were in favour. The reason for the opposition was that the Church of England was too Calvinist for them.
He died at Hampstead, having been a great benefactor to Oriel College,[ and is buried at ]All Saints Church, Fulham
All Saints' Church is the ancient parish church of Fulham, in the County of Middlesex, pre-dating the Reformation. It is now an Anglican church in Fulham, London, sited close to the River Thames, beside the northern approach to Putney Bridge. T ...
, London.
He married twice but had no issue by either marriage. His first wife was Mary Langton, daughter of William Langton. His second wife was Emma Cornwallis, widow of Thomas Cornwallis of Abermarlais and daughter of Sir Job Charlton, 1st Baronet
Sir Job Charlton, 1st Baronet KS (c. 1614 – 26 May 1697) was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1659 and 1679. He was Speaker of the House of Commons of England briefly in 1673.
Life
Charlton was born in ...
and his second wife Letitia. Emma outlived him by many years, and died in 1748.
Writings
Robinson wrote an ''Account of Sweden together with an Extract of the History of that Kingdom. By a person of note who resided many years there'' (London, 1695). This was translated into French (Amsterdam, 1712), and in 1738 was published with Viscount Molesworth
Viscount Molesworth, of Swords in the County of Dublin, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1716 for Robert Molesworth. He was made Lord Molesworth, Baron of Philipstown, of King's County, at the same time, also in the Peerage ...
's ''Account of Denmark'' in 1692. Some of his letters are among the Strafford papers in the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.[
]
Other
A member of the same family was Sir Frederick Philipse Robinson
Robinson's older brother, Christopher Robinson, immigrated to the Virginia Colony
The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...
and became the patriarch of one of Virginia's First Families. He is also related to Christopher Robinson and the Robinson political family of Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...
.
References
*''John Robinson's Account of Sweden, 1688: the original 1688 manuscript, edited and collated with the 1693 manuscript and the published editions from 1694'', with an introduction by John B. Hattendorf
John Brewster Hattendorf, D.Phil., D.Litt., L.H.D., FRHistS, FSNR, (born December 22, 1941) is an American naval historian. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of more than fifty books, mainly on British and American maritime hi ...
. (Stockholm, Sweden: Karolinska Förbundet, 1998)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, John
1650 births
1723 deaths
18th-century Church of England bishops
Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford
Bishops of Bristol
Bishops of London
Ambassadors of England to Sweden
English diplomats
Chancellors of the College of William & Mary
Deans of Windsor
Deans of the Chapel Royal
Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford
17th century in Sweden
Lords Privy Seal
People from Richmondshire (district)
Clergy from Yorkshire
17th-century English diplomats
18th-century diplomats
Burials at All Saints Church, Fulham